Magical Girl Crusade
by alvaro84
Summary: An unlikely crossover, what else. Written during the long hiatus between PMMM ep10 and ep11. Messing with time has consequences. The side effects has drawn the attention of certain someones. A whole new timeline, forked @ ep11. Translated from Hungarian
1. Interdimensional Voyage of a Ghostly PS

**Magical Girl Crusade chapter 0: Interdimensional Voyage of a Ghostly Passenger Ship**

The girl was sitting on the rails of the bridge, chewing a cheese sandwich. Dangling her feet over the chasm while the evening wind gently ruffled her shoulder-length pink hair.

"Hey Kyubey! Why do I have to do this?" She asked the small, white, furry creature sitting next to her.

'Because in your current weakened state you would die without that grief seed,' He answered.

"But why do I have to do this alone? You said that I'm not alone, but you never let me meet other magical girls!"

'I thought you just saw it for yourself: you'd have to share grief seeds, and not many of you like that.'

"But all magical girls can't be like that raven haired one... Maybe I could get along with another one, couldn't I, Kyubey?"

'No, they aren't like her at all.' The creature smiled, wagging his tail. 'But listen: other girls may have wishes too, and I can make them true. If you get along with one of them, you could remain friends after she makes a contract with me.'

The girl brightened. She swallowed the last nibble of her sandwich, and jumped down to the bridge while she crumpled the tinfoil into her pocket. She used to sculpt little animals out of these tinfoil wrappings before her wish released her from the hospital. While she was locked in there, she often played that Pyotr, the mouse ate the cheese that she wasn't allowed to. Now she could do it herself, so she left Pyotr and Charlotte to shine in the sunlight infiltrating the oncology ward.

"Won't you come with me?" She asked the creature.

'You'll have to go by yourself. I have to prepare for an important event!' Kyubey answered with his permanent smile.

* * *

><p>It was a normal evening at the shopping mall, and the square was teeming with people: students were gathering here after finishing their school activities, parents packing their cars after shopping for their families, scooter couriers leaving and arriving... life was going on normally.<p>

The sun had already set, though the sky was still full of playful colors, orange, pink and dark blue.

A crowd began to gather rapidly, to watch a businessman on the edge of the roof. He was walking about up there, wildly gesturing and shouting. He opened his briefcase and filled the air with paper sheets. Some of the gathering bystanders (there were at least a hundred of them by now) caught a few of the papers.

It was nothing new, time to time someone got the idea to climb up and make a drama. The building had been closed for at least a year, but these miserable souls always found the way to the top. And they always had their audience. They were usually brought down by the firefighters, but sometimes the spectators got some blood - usually the modest, more skilled candidates ended up down there. The audience was too ashamed to admit that they enjoyed the thrill of seeing real blood and brains splashed on the pavement, but the flock always gathered again when someone prepared to jump. This one seemed to merely seek attention, though. He had been dancing up there for at least five minutes and they could already hear the approaching sirens.

But eventually, the man plummeted. Not of his free will, though. It was a tremor that pushed him over the edge. People fled to the streets suspecting an earthquake. The quake repeated within a minute. Then, while the protagonist was put in a body bag, the surrounding windows exploded, covering everyone with glass shards. It was a student who looked up to the sky then the crowd followed suit. No one could avert their eyes from the sinister, dark grey vortex stretching between the roof and the clouds. It appeared too suddenly for a natural phenomenon, but behaved like a normal tornado. The rising wind dragged the contents of the trashcans towards the funnel.

"You knew that it had only two possible outcomes. This witch is the strongest in the dark and she was weak and inexperienced." A cold voice asserted. "Of course you hoped she'd end up like this. Or, more precisely, almost like this."

The little animal turned around.

"This is interesting. Normal humans shouldn't see it." He answered to the raven haired girl. "You may even know what's behind this physical reaction."

The girl clenched her lips and focused on the vortex. It apparently grew and a continuing tremors accompanied its spinning. Lightning seemed to illuminate it from the inside, with eerie red flashes. Chunks of plaster smashed on the asphalt and the windscreenless cars around the warehouse. Its bared structure appeared to be glowing.

Then the wind turned about in a deafening boom, and the sky opened. On the other side, fleecy clouds were floating in a calm, dark-blue sky. Clouds, and something else. A huge, cigar-shaped object came staggering through the rift, as if escaped from an early 20th century photograph. It was bound with thick cables on the other side, but these ropes snapped, one by one. The zeppelin dashed towards the crowd with blazing speed.

No one could explain how they survived that evening. Some mysterious force seemed to pull everyone out of the wreck's way, and the shower of debris seemed to find unoccupied spots of it's own free will. The rift expanded for a moment like it wanted to swallow everything, then it closed. Every noise died away, with only the quiet buzzing of some bluish sparks crawling on the debris.

* * *

><p>The girl with long black hair was standing on the edge of the next roof as she watched the place where the warehouse used to be. A pile of concrete chunks and strange knots of metal bars or wires, this was all that remained of the building. It was impossible to separate the framework of the airship and the shelves anymore. Some of the sparks were still dancing on the metal surfaces, though they looked far tamer now than at night. Here and there everything looked as distorted as if one looked them through glass spheres. The place was occupied by the disaster relief forces. Policemen, soldiers and scientists were running about with various instruments, and walked off to phone - apparently there was no signal amid the ruins.<p>

Two more Skylines with dimmed windows stopped at the cordon. Two Japanese agents got off the first one. A blonde woman, a stubbly younger and an older man left the other. They were apparently foreigners, most probably Americans. Only the woman wore formal clothes. She showed some kind of pass to the officers then engaged them in conversation.

They brought out more instruments, swung them around with great interest while talking to each other. The girl couldn't hear what they were talking about, but she already knew everything - she'd been waiting for them since daybreak, she was looking for them from up there. Last time they were late, but now she'd decided not to take any risk and forged their official invitation with her own hands. By the time the Americans got it every single word of it came true. Her abilities provided her a headstart.

She had already planned to take them into the game, which wasn't ever a game to begin with, and became even more brutal as she repeatedly tried to get through it.

'They say it's a soft spot, a sign of degradation.' The white, furry creature said. 'See, we share interests. It was not friendly of you to do that last morning. You may chose Hanako's destiny too.'

He's always torturing her with the same smile. It would feel so good to wipe that smile off his face... the girl wavered but she got a grip on herself.

"You'd inevitably find a way to make sure she ended up like this." She answered icily, flicking her hair.

'It's disappointing to lose the energy we could extract from her.' Kyubey continued. 'So I'd like to know what happened. This is not normal. It is jeopardizing my mission. I think you're also interested-'

He was taken aback. The girl contently acknowledged his surprise when a bullet from her silenced Beretta hit the ground right next to the foreign man. But the creature's surprise didn't last but a minute. His peace of mind was next to impossible to disturb.

'You need a decent rest after such an evening.' The little animal commented. 'Your aim's usually much better than this.'

The girl quickly crouched down. The man down there rushed to the formal dressed woman, and drew her aside. He pointed to the roof where he suspected the origin of the shot. 'What now comes, must look like a mistake.' she summarised. Kyubey was already suspecting what kind of gift he had given to her. She should at least keep her plan secret. She knew that the woman was the more interesting of the two. That woman had some uncanny ability apparently tuned to spot her. Last time she found her in a crowd like a hawk spots the vole, so the girl could count on her.

The girl warily looked over the edge of the roof. The woman instantly turned towards her and pointed to the roof. Those two split up and began to run towards two corners of the building.

'You don't mind if I stay here for a while, do you?' Kyubey asked the girl but she was already climbing down the fire ladder.


	2. Illusion of Mysterious Cat

**Magical Girl Crusade chapter 1: Strange Bird of the Moon, Illusion of Mysterious Cat**

She knew that they're not simple passers-by nor scientists. She also knew that they still can't be better than her. It would be an easy game for her. She knew their strategy: last time she learned that they'd always try to surround and corner her. She knew the neighborhood too, they didn't. They hadn't even brought the local policemen with them. They were too headstrong, even when they were so far from home. They were used to the disbelief they always bumped into, it came with their job. She was similar to them in this respect. That's why she decided to trust them. And because she needed them to convince the other girls. She had to break out of this trap. With their help she might... No, she certainly could succeed. She probably couldn't try again.

Time to time she showed herself to them, lured and confused them. It was unusual to chase someone who flees in two directions at once, even for them. This trick was guaranteed to keep their curiosity alive. She changed her clothes, replacing the school uniform with her magical girl outfit. It was easier to move in them and her shield provided her a bunch of useful tools. She checked on Kyubey too: as she expected the furry creature was more worried about the soft spot in the fabric of the universe than his stray lamb. Now that the little creature was busy with scientific stuff she could go on with the next step in her plan. She headed towards another roof ladder. She climbed up, hid for a minute up there then she looked over the edge again with feigned caution. She pretended to look for the woman who, naturally, instantly spotted her. Then she felt a heavy blow on her nape. Her head turned, but she was still standing: someone caught her from behind, and strained her arms behind her back. So the man has arrived too. Everything went blank for a moment. When she came around she was lying on the roof, in the company of her pursuers.

"We don't know how she does it. Tie her carefully!" the woman hissed while holstering her gun, then she ran off. The man expertly immobilized the mysterious escapee. By the time he'd finished the woman had parked the police Skyline in front of the house.

"This car is rather useful," the girl heard while they packed her in the back seat. "We'd surely make a scandal by dragging tied up Japanese citizens through the city." 

* * *

><p>[UNIVERSITY OF MITAKIHARA]<p>

They found the door open as they arrived after carrying a suspicious black plastic bag along the hallway. Rumors spread that the old scientist just LOVED to dissect bodies and he got the basement lab for exactly this kind of work. The Police were involved. It was convenient for them: though they made quite a stir with that bag, no one asked any embarrassing questions.

The woman closed the door while the man put the bag on a chair and peeled it off their captive. A young, dark skinned woman entered the room at this very moment with a box of test tubes. She instantly dropped the box in surprise. A few tubes broke, the others scattered on the floor and rolled around for a few seconds.

"Dear God! Peter, this is a child! What the hell are you doing? Release her now!" Ordered the young woman taken aback.

A thin, fragile girl was sitting on the chair, tied thoroughly. She looked about fifteen. Her straight, silky hair now disheveledly circled her head and flew down under her waist. Her face was of a cold beauty, her violet eyes watched them with a piercing glare.

"I know our methods didn't follow the official procedure, and we're not even authorized to arrest you." Said the blonde woman. She put an identity card on the table right before the girl.

'Olivia Dunham,' the girl read. It was nothing new.

"You still owe us an explanation for that shot." Added Peter, in Japanese just to be sure. "And you should stay until you inform us about the things you did just a little while ago."

While the girl was speaking they gradually untied her. Peter interpreted everything she said.

"All right, but it'll be rough. I don't think you'll believe, but I came from a different time. I have repeated the next few weeks many times. It's the third time I see you in Mitakihara."

"Dear God!" The old scientist involuntarily interrupted her. "How could you...?"

"I'm sorry for disappointing you." She answered. "I don't have the faintest idea. Let's call it magic. It's all because of the wish I made. I wanted to protect Madoka, my only true friend in this world. So I returned to the day before we met, and tried to get things right. I hoped to find a way."

They followed her words with rapt attention. They weren't sure that she was telling the truth, nevertheless the things she said were interesting.

"But no matter how hard I tried, everything turned out for the worse. I gave up on relying on anyone in the end, I wanted stable conditions - yet I still failed. I resumed. I wanted to eradicate that thing before it could hurt anyone, but I failed again. I achieved nothing apart from destroying everything myself. Even Madoka killed herself. You could say that it didn't happen because she's still alive, but I'll always see her dead and the city in ruins when I close my eyes! And as I started over and over again the world began to change. Or, maybe I began to lose my mind. Things I remember happen differently. The world seems getting out of the groove, it's drifting. I thought I messed up everything but then I find more glitches. I think you came here because of these very glitches. I'm scared!"

The strange girl sobbed on the other side of the glass table, sunk in herself. They sat dumbfounded as Peter interpreted her monologue. Even the creole woman stopped picking up the tubes. Olivia reached over the table and gently took her hand. The girl lift her eyes.

"It'll be okay. We'll do everything to help you!" Olivia said.

"But it's just an accident you got involved. Why would you do anything for me or my friends?" The girl asked, this time in English.

"Because otherwise you make the borders of our world even more porous, and mess up the laws of physics even more, young lady!" The old scientist severely said. "And because I, too, attempted the unimaginable, and I succeeded." He added much more gently. "Dr Walter Bishop." He held out his hand.

She accepted. "I know, we've already met. My name is Akemi Homura."

"Walter, you believe her?" Peter asked.

"I can't yet prove or refute what she said, but it makes perfect sense, Peter. Her messing with timelines can possibly amplify the interaction of alternate universes thus it could explain the sudden increase in the pace of degradation we're experiencing! I'll work out something to test her statements, though." Dr Bishop answered.

"But, for the time being, I believe her, yes." He concluded.

"You shouldn't have tied me this tightly." The girl rubbed her wrists. "I didn't want to run off or hurt you."

"We really couldn't know. You shot at me, after all. But OK, I'm sorry." Peter answered. "I'm Peter Bishop." He added. "And she's Olivia Dunham, as you could see."

"We, um, work together." Olivia completed.

"Astrid Farnsworth," The creole woman shook hands with Homura. "Even if we've already met."

"You were sent by the FBI Fringe Division at the request of our Office of Security. OK, I admit, that request was written by me. And now we're in the basement of the University of Mitakihara." The girl recited. "It's a loss of face for our government to ask your help so they would have been arguing for at least a week if I didn't write that letter, and it could have been fatal. Fortunately some of them are wise enough to recognize that they can't overcome this problem and that it's exactly your speciality."

"You said that they can't overcome it. Do you have an idea what we're up against?" Olivia asked. The answer was surprising.

"More than one opponent. One of them I can't eliminate. The other can be defeated, but every victory against it proved to be a disaster. It's called the Walpurgisnacht. Only Madoka could defeat it without ruining half the city. And she really shouldn't have done it..."

"Walpurgisnacht...?" they wondered.

"It's the manifestation of the strongest witch ever lived on Earth. Walpurgis appears unexpectedly and disasters and wars accompany her. And, lately, vortices too. But this last one wasn't Walpurgis, just the birth of a regular witch. Walpurgis is much greater." She stopped for a moment realizing what she was saying.

"I'm sorry, I went ahead of myself. Dr Bishop, last time it was you who understood it first, even though, as you see, I can't explain it. I'm not very good at science, only at weapons. Maybe too good at them. But this something we can only call magic does really exist and we few use it. We magical girls protect humankind from the beings called witches. And if we fail, we become witches ourselves. If we knew it, we'd never make that contract. But it can't be helped. And that one who became Walpurgis had already made the contract way before us. We had no means to prevent the Walpurgisnacht to begin with."

"But this Madoka can defeat it." Peter interrupted her.

"Effortlessly. But it raised another problem: she almost instantly became a witch, much stronger than Walpurgis herself. She would have destroyed the whole planet within weeks if I don't return to the past to stop it from happening." Homura answered.

"Then you defeated this Walpurgis yourself." Peter guessed.

"Exactly. It took a lot more iterations. And it ended in another disaster." The girl admitted.

"But you didn't transform...?" Olivia held her gun at Homura.

"Of course not. I couldn't be here then. I can hardly overuse my magic by attacks, to begin with. I don't even have a magical attack. Probably because my wish was to protect Madoka. I have to resort to regular weapons." The raven-haired girl answered.

"Good. So we don't need magic to bring it down. It's just a question of..." Peter hesitated to finish the sentence when he saw Homura going pale. He watched the girl with a condoling look, suspecting the answer.

"Firepower, yes." She nodded. "I tried many times. My last bet was a North Korean copy of a 15 kiloton W45 MADM. And I won. At last I could blow her up. Together with half of the city and God knows how many people, including Madoka's family. In the meantime the North Koreans found out that their precious bomb had gone missing and they attacked South Korea with the rest. The USA answered and China was about to enter the war too... when I came back again. I'm sorry, I killed you too."

They sat in silence for a while, everyone tried to stomach the things they heard. Then Homura broke the silence.

"I'm sorry but I have to go now. I have to keep an eye on Madoka, I can't let our other enemy break her. I'll talk about this enemy next time. I'll be back this evening, at half past ten. As far as I know nothing's going to happen at that time. Even I can't be sure anymore, though. But at least Charlotte won't cause any problems now."

While she was speaking she stood up and walked to the door. She opened the door and stepped out without further explanation. Peter made a dash for her, but she had mysteriously disappeared in the hallway.

"Let her go..." Olivia said. "She'll come back. She's like a cat, she won't stay with us. But I'm pretty sure she'll be here when we need her. Or, when she needs us."

"A black cat," Peter murmured. "who has weird ways to ask for help."


	3. Illusionary Night

**Magical Girl Crusade chapter 2: Illusionary Night  
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Walter had been walking about in the lab for hours. Astrid was mixing the weirdest cocktails of legal and illegal components for him. The strange girl and the anomalies at the ruins gave them a great deal to think about. Astrid waded through the data they collected. They decided to order the components from the Shanghai warehouse of Massive Dynamic and some local companies.

Company helicopters arrived in a few hours and got unloaded by uniformed Massive Dynamic employees. The reception directed huge trucks to the baseball field where thousands of barrels piled up, all covered with warning signs. In a few more hours a forest of tents grew out of nowhere, encircled by a barbed wire fence. Hundreds of soldiers and company guards patrolled around the area. The unloading was overseen by Peter and Olivia, according to Walter's instructions.

"Astrid!" Walter called. "I'm afraid the time has come. Please tell Olivia to speak with the general. They have to place the dispenser as soon as the first batch is completed. And bring me one more of the last one."

"Walter, you'll knock out yourself!" The woman objected.

"Be silent! I don't want to be reminded that I'm no better than Walternate! And I don't want to see my creation unleashed on this world. I'll hear enough of the demonstrations against me later." The distressed Dr Bishop objected.

"Walter, we're going to be very careful. There will be no casualties. These Japanese have experienced many disasters, they'll keep the evacuation under control." She tried to reassure him.

"Leave me alone. All right, I'll do what I have to do. But don't expect me enjoy the view..." Walter answered.

Astrid went out and left him with his empty glass.

"Damn it..." He murmured. He mixed something out of the contents of two bottles and a test tube. He tasted the resulting suspicious liquid.

"This girl may have helped the world to end up like this, but it was me who planted the seed of this disaster." He summarized in low spirits. "If I hadn't crossed over back then to save Peter... then we'd probably get her calamity out of the blue. May God have mercy on both of us..."

The phone rang. It showed an internal call. He pulled himself together and picked up the receiver.

"Doctor Bishop? A group of girls want to get into your lab. I told them that the fresher's ball is on in Building D but they're insisting that they want to meet you in person." The receptionist said.

"Let them in!" Walter's words were a bit slurred. He quickly injected something into his left arm to clear his head. "Why a group?" He wondered. Homura had not mentioned anyone else coming here.

"Are you sure it's an approppriate time?" The receptionist asked.

"Don't make a fuss about it! They're important witnesses! We were expecting them!" He hoped he sounded sober enough through the phone.

He was pacing up and down nervously until his guests arrived. Their hairstyles made a surreal impression on him in the very moment they entered: long, flowing black; blonde drill; pink with nice red bows; short blue.

"Lock the door well," Homura suggested. "I wouldn't like Kyubey to find us."

"Of course..." The old scientist answered, still distracted by the drinks and the sight.

"Akemi wanted to have a talk with you before we'd make Madoka a magical girl. She said she'd already told everything to me but it didn't help. I think she's nuts. I don't remember ever talking with her before!" The blond's words were rushed, but at least they were English; He was thankful that the girls had been prepared. Otherwise, without Peter to translate, he would have been in trouble.

"Don't judge her," Dr Bishop answered. "I probably wouldn't be myself in her place. I must admit that I don't really feel myself in my own place either."

He looked over the girls.

"Which one of you is Madoka, Destroyer of worlds?" He asked then.

The three girls with light hair exchanged a look. In the light of how Walter behaved, they began to regard Homura as a sane person. Finally the pink haired girl took a step ahead. She was the shortest, most childish of them. She shyly bowed.

"I am Kaname Madoka. I don't remember doing anything like that..."

"Please forgive me," Walter asked. "It was a bad joke. It's me who broke through the border of the universes. I'd deserve to be shut back in the St. Claire's. Akemi-san, you're not responsible for it, you just accelerated the degradation."

"Ake... Homura-chan couldn't possibly do anything that horrible!" Madoka protested.

"Why are you so sure?" The blue haired girl asked. "Just because you saw her in a weird dream? Wasn't that dream horrible enough?"

"Everyone listen!" Walter exclaimed. He looked inspired.

"Akemi-san," He kept on speaking, "we'll finally prove your story. Or refute it. What do you carry while manipulating time?"

"My soul gem... my clothes... this shield," Homura counted. "And apparently everything I hold in it."

"This is wonderful, my dear!" Walter cheered. He took off his wristwatch and held it up. The watch was impassively counting second after second.

"Let's assume that we can't manipulate it. Will you believe it exists in a different time if it deviates from all the others? It took atomic clocks to tentatively prove Einstein's theory of relativity, but I think this much less accurate instrument will do for us."

"Only if we don't mess with the others..." Homura mumbled.

"Correct!" The old scientist answered. "We'll be the control group and we'll be doing our best not to adjust our watches. Moreover, we're going to have a lot of references out there. Akemi-san, you'll be timeline B and we'll also make sure you can't skew the result of this experiment. Look!"

He hung the watch in his drinking glass, then he filled the glass with some transparent liquid. After a few seconds he passed the glass around. The girls found that the liquid had turned into solid, glass-like material.

"Now set it to a different time!" Walter told to the blonde girl when she wanted to give the wristwatch back to him.

She smashed it against the floor. A stone tile cracked, the glass exploded into a mass of splinters. The watch inside the hardened liquid was still counting indifferently. They all synchronized their watches using this as a reference. Walter almost gave it to Homura, but he stopped halfway. He slapped his forehead.

"Dear God! I forgot to introduce myself! Dr Walter Bishop." He distractedly shook hands with each of the girls.

"Miki Sayaka," The blue haired girl replied.

"Tomoe Mami," The blonde introduced herself.

"Kaname Madoka," The pink haired said.

"We've already met, Dr Bishop!" Homura warned him.

"Of course, Akemi-san..." Walter mumbled. "Take this watch and set it to, say, five minutes in the future."

The raven haired-girl disappeared, then a moment later she tapped Walter's shoulder from behind.

* * *

><p>The rest of the evening was inconceivable in hindsight. Madoka woke up a bit dizzy. Had she really gone to bed at 2am? She had never done such a thing before. She staggered into the bathroom with her eyes half-closed. Her thoughts were elsewhere while she had a wash. She had dreamt about that transfer student again. It puzzled her. She put on her clothes. 'Tomoe Mami from the 3rd class was there too.' she remembered. In her dream she was a magical girl. Would she laugh at her if she told it? 'Mami made peace with Homura.' Madoka had already told her that that the black haired girl couldn't be evil. But it was another dream...<p>

She lost the rest of her confidence. She wanted to talk to Sayaka. She almost dialed her number, but she made up her mind, put her phone back into her pocket and grabbed her toothbrush instead. It would be the best to talk with Sayaka in person. She'd may look less crazy then. Her last dream was nothing compared to this one, after all.

"Madoka, where were you out so late? I know you can take care of yourself, but don't forget to tell us if you skip dinner!"

Her mother was standing next to her, with another toothbrush. Madoka froze. Her mother's words could mean only one thing: something had really happened last night. But she had must dreamt the harsher things. She couldn't possibly had seen Homura twitching on the floor screaming in agony when Dr Bishop examined her soul gem. And Kyubey couldn't be the enemy...

"Good morning, Madoka!" The little creature greeted her. Kyubey was standing under the tap and enjoying the warm water flowing down his back. At least he was smiling. 'Entropy,' popped up in Madoka's mind. This was an alien who fought the heat death of the universe by condemning girls to perdition, raising energy from their grief and suffering for his own civilization. Even the crazy Dr Bishop had pointed out the insanity in his reasoning. It could take billions of years to see anything of this threat. But there was a more timely hazard...

"Have you seen the news, Mom?" She asked.

"Are you worried about the earthquake?" Her mother asked. "Now they're telling that it was something completely different. They're talking through their hats about parallel universes and wormholes. And that lunatic bunch is living off of our taxes! They should have already been fired. No wonder they called for the Americans' help! But where were you in the evening?"

Madoka was startled. Her mother mostly let her do what she wanted, and she didn't want to displease her, let alone telling a lie.

"We were attending a lecture on some recent scientific theories." The girl answered. It was true, after all. It had to be true. They were discussing the very other worlds and wormholes her mother had mentioned.

"Madoka, I know you want to be a good girl. We're happy that you're doing your best at school, but sometimes you should relax a bit." Her mother winked.

'Maybe it would be the best to tell everything to mom. Like Homura did.' She thought. The transfer student's story terrified, embarrassed and warmed Madoka at once. She felt for the raven-haired girl, though she didn't understand why she did it all for her.

'You can trust Homura to the utmost.' That creole woman had said to her. Astrid, that was her name. Madoka began to accept that this hadn't been a dream. But the last test was still ahead. She had to talk with Sayaka. Of course it wouldn't be easy with Kyubey around. Homura warned them not to let anything out to the little creature, but Madoka wasn't even sure she hadn't already done it. He could talk inside her head, he might have heard her thoughts as well...

So she couldn't reveal anything, not even to her mother. She couldn't put it out of her head while having her breakfast. The little animal was sitting on the middle of the table, invisible to anyone else. She received a goodbye kiss from her dad, a high-five from her mom then she ran out of the house. Kyubey followed her.

'You're silent today, Madoka. Are you worried about something?' Madoka heard in her head. She determinedly clenched her lips.

'You have the power to make it go away. Just make a wish!' Kyubey kept trying. He knew that time was not on his side. And Madoka could be his biggest catch. She didn't even know if she believed it, but she was sure the little mascot wouldn't simply get lost.

Sayaka was waiting for her at the park. Hitomi was there too, the two girls were sharing school gossip. The blue haired girl fell silent for a moment as she noticed the white furry creature, then she kept on telling an immensely interesting story about Saotome-sensei. Madoka half-heartedly joined the conversation, which soon drowned in an awkward silence.

'What ails you, Miki Sayaka?' Kyubey asked in their minds. They kept on walking speechlessly.

Hitomi hadn't heard his voice but she felt the tension in the air, so she kept silent too.

'Perhaps you fell out with Madoka? Wouldn't you like to make friends with her again?' Kyubey kept trying.

The whole day passed, and they couldn't safely talk about the last evening. It made Madoka bitter. She was sitting in the same classroom with Sayaka and Homura, but they were so distant as if she was on a different continent. Like the Boston lab of the Fringe Division. She would have been happier to be there with her two classmates.

But at least what her teachers said confirmed that she hadn't dreamt the last evening. They began every single lesson with a speech about the state of emergency introduced in Mitakihara. The government had ordered a quarantine of the airship crash site to prevent the opening of a vortex, and warned the citizens to report any anomaly they experience.

"What kind of anomalies?" Hitomi asked Saotome-sensei.

The teacher shrugged.

"Something abnormal. Anything that contradicts the laws of physics." She couldn't give any better explanation.

On the way home they were discussing the morning's events. It was a relief after such a day, even if the girls couldn't tell what they knew. Madoka and Sayaka pretended to know nothing more than they'd heard in the news. Hitomi was better informed and led them to the disaster area. It was surrounded by a police line and the officers did not let anyone close to the former building, but they could recognize the yellowish, transparent, plastic-like material that was covering the ruins from the distance. If Hitomi knew that they had even held a piece of that matter in their very hands... but they couldn't tell that to the green haired girl.

Even at home, Madoka couldn't focus on her homework. The only place she could find peace was the bathtub after she finally locked Kyubey out of the bathroom. Then at last she could exchange a few messages with Sayaka. She learned that her friend could talk a bit with Homura after visiting Kyousuke in the hospital. Now Madoka was absolutely positive that she hadn't dreamt the last evening.

The next day was exactly the same. Kyubey wouldn't let her alone, he bombarded her with questions. Her only comfort was seeing Homura waiting for her with Sayaka and Hitomi. Now the four of them could walk to school together pretending getting to know each other. Hitomi really hadn't known the new girl very much, but for Madoka the conversation felt painfully fake. And to top it all Homura looked deadly tired.

"I'm sorry, it's because of my heart." The raven-haired girl explained, but Madoka knew that the real reason had to be entirely different.

Then, during the lunch break, Kyubey disappeared. They were free to go up the roof together (Madoka liked that place very much) and talk about anything they wanted. Hitomi left with with some friends. For some reason the green haired beauty was left out of the whole magical girl business in every timeline, so they could let her go wherever she wanted.

"It seems at last Mami came up with something to hold up the little bastard. What a relief!" Sayaka referred Kyubey. She turned to Madoka. "This is what I talked about with Homura yesterday. Good that Mami made peace with her in the end. I was a bit worried that they'd smash up the lab equipment."

Madoka vividly remembered Mami strangling Homura with a ribbon. Madoka was far more worried about the transfer student's life than the safety of the equipment. She would have never thought that the calm, elegant Mami could be so infuriated, but apparently Homura had found her berserk button when she used her to demonstrate what happens when a magical girl gets far enough from her soul gem... or, to be more exact, from her body, because her soul was contained in the gem itself.

But the two girls had shaken hands in the end (actually, Mami thanked Homura for showing her the truth) and the Magical Girls' Alliance Against Incubators had been established. The Alliance had two regular members, and they weren't expecting anyone else joining, except for one certain redhead. Its two honorary members were Kaname Madoka and Miki Sayaka.

"Last night I had a talk with Kyouko." Homura began. "She refused to join, and did not even want to come with me to hear Dr Bishop. Then I went to hunt down a witch with Mami. I hope Walter can use the data we collected. Anyway, I'm really worried about the Walpurgisnacht. The two of us may not be enough to survive the fight."

Sayaka looked at her significantly.

"Don't even think about it!" Homura grunted out.

The blue haired tomboy turned away sulking. She did not feel in need of advice from such a doomsayer.

Next morning Kuybey appeared again, carried by the blue-haired girl. Madoka looked at Homura, afraid of the worst. The raven-haired girl put her face in her hands. Madoka felt a brutal blow inside, she almost fell over. She looked on Sayaka again in despair.

"Why the long face?" The blue-haired girl simpered. "I feel great, I've never felt this great before! And there's someone else who got better too."

"So you did it for Kamijou-kun?" The pink haired girl asked in distress. "You can't make him happy by throwing your life away! He won't be glad to hear it!"

"You don't understand anything." Sayaka answered. "There are things that are worth the sacrifice."

"But Sayaka-chan!" The smaller girl exclaimed. "You heard it too! You'll be killed! Or, if you survive long enough, you'll become a wi-"

Madoka suddenly covered her mouth with a startled expression. Kyubey smiled, wagging his tail. It was impossible to read anything in his shiny red eyes. Homura did her best to keep cool but she couldn't rival Kyubey's perfect poker face.

"Come on, Madoka!" Sayaka kept on grinning. "Mami's been doing it for years and she's perfectly fine! And there's that redhead, Sakura Kyouko. She really knows how to survive!"

Homura raised her brow. 'When did these two meet?' She wondered.

'What did you reveal to them, Akemi Homura?' Kyubey looked at her.

She kept silent.

'See? Miki Sayaka considered her wish worth it, even knowing the details of the contract.' The little creature pointed out. 'Isn't it possible that you're completely wrong?'

Kyubey's words tore painfully into Madoka's soul. She looked at her friend with watery eyes.

"There must be a way..." She wept.

Sayaka gently stroke the girl's pink locks. Her grin softened to a friendly smile.

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself." She said.


	4. Lunatic Blue

**Magical Girl Crusade chapter 3: Lunatic Blue**

_"This is a good example. The wide variety of her actions could not affect the primary attractor."_

_"What exactly is their word for it?"_

_"Fate. Its existence is necessary to keep the universes parallel."_

_"It serves us this time. The changes they made have not seem to taken effect at this point."_

* * *

><p>From that time on, Homura had always felt Kyubey's eye on her. This way wasn't at all as easy as she'd hoped. So much for her multiple experience. Sayaka being talked into the contract by Kyouko was something she would have never expected. This was pure madness. It was clear for her that Madoka would lose her friend sooner or later. Her heart sank as she thought back to this fork. Every single time Sayaka joined them it led to a disaster. Sayaka had always been a bad magical girl with suicidal tendencies. If Madoka should realize the only solution... If she asked Kyubey to bring her friend back... That would be the end of everything. It was Homura's last chance to save Madoka. Suddenly she felt so vulnerable.<p>

She knew that Madoka's happiness depended on Sayaka. And that Sayaka's happiness depended on Kamijou Kyousuke - so she made desperate efforts to ensure the happiness of Sayaka. She didn't think highly of the violinist guy, but she tried everything to make them a couple. She and Madoka invited them to the cinema, to the café, to a concert. She hid love letters in their lockers. Nothing seemed to help though, Kyousuke seemed to be immune to Sayaka. What's more, he was definitely annoyed by those letters. The "love potion" Homura mixed had no effect at all. She was desperate enough to warn Hitomi off the boy, but she couldn't obtain anything but the strange looks of the green haired beauty. From that time on Hitomi was sure that Homura had gone crazy and she wasn't alone in her opinion. No matter how her classmates had admired Homura after she transferred, now most of them agreed that she was a weirdo. Sayaka was confident she wanted to trick her. Only Madoka was standing by the raven-haired girl, and, for the first time in her endless sequence of replays, Mami sympathized with her. She was glad for that, Mami had always been a good ally once she overcame the shock of becoming aware of their situation. Though they needed Peter's help to free Homura from the choking ribbon and Olivia to hold Mami until she calmed down, the blonde girl could get over it without killing any of them. Asking the help of the Fringe Division proved to be a good idea for one more reason.

To be on the safe side she followed Sayaka whenever the blue-haired girl went on a hunt. In her pocket she always carried the tiny transmitter that Walter gave her. It was constantly sending data to the basement lab: it measured static charge, gravity, magnetic fields, radiation, and many other possible signs of impending tears in the structure of universe. She helped the old scientist but she was quite sure that he won't be able to help her with her latest problem. How could Sayaka's fall be stopped by science? Because the girl was apparently heading down: she fought carelessly, finished her battles beaten up, and apathetically tossed away the grief seeds she gained. She apparently could not endure drifting away from Kyousuke.

While Homura was tracking the blue-haired girl, she realised she wasn't alone. Sakura Kyouko was worried about Sayaka too, she followed her nervously chewing some taiyaki in the shadows. Homura felt like slapping her face for dragging Sayaka in the game, but she decided to keep hiding.

It was Kyouko who couldn't stand hiding anymore. She came forward and sat next to Sayaka. She was apparently trying to talk some sense into her, but she just made the situation worse. Homura saw the world darkening around them. They were at a subway station where the Sun never shines, and the lights started to dim and flicker. She was pondering if her intervention could help Sayaka or she'd just give her the final blow when she felt vibration in her pocket. Peter Bishop, the display read. She almost turned the phone off, but it was too late: the two other girls had already noticed her. She decided to accept the call. The man sounded upset in the phone.

"Though we received increasingly suspicious data from your sensor, what we see now is really scary! Walter suspects that you're close to a potential vortex. Do you hear us? We know your position, we traced your phone. Stay where you are, we'll be there in a few minutes!" Peter told her.

"Give me some time!" She shouted in the microphone, but the call had already been disrupted. She put the phone away.

"Show me your soul gem!" She scowled at Sayaka.

The blue-haired girl sulkily obeyed. Homura was not surprised by the sight, she had seen it many times, but Kyouko was shocked by the bottomless darkness inside the gem.

"You need a grief seed, now!" Homura asserted. "Kyouko, do you have a spare?" She asked.

Kyouko emptied her pockets without question. She unfolded a crinkly Pocky bag, and shook a little black gem out of it: the remnant of a former witch. She handed it to Sayaka. The blue-haired girl knocked it out of Kyouko's hand. The gem bounced all along the platform and stopped at the edge.

"Stop playing the saint. I know that no one cares about me, there's no need to boost your egos by 'helping' me." Sayaka mocked.

"Kyouko, you feel guilty for roping me in this magical girl game. You're being arrogant. It was my decision, only mine! I regret it, but this is none of your business. Go away, I don't want to see you ever again!"

Her words petrified Kyouko. Now Sayaka turned to her raven-haired classmate.

"Homura, it's not because of me that you're here. You and your promises! You're just a samurai! A mercenary! Madoka's cute terminator!" She spat. "I know that she's the only reason you want to help me. Spare yourself the trouble, I'll be fine alone, thanks. She had always been my friend but you took her away in a few weeks! Go to hell and take her with you!"

Homura tried to protest, but even she did not believe her own words. Sayaka laughed at her with watery eyes.

Suddenly, the underground structure shook around them. The grief seed rolled over the edge and fell between the rails, but even Kyouko let it go. Sayaka's frantic laughter echoed from the walls, the benches tore off the floor and started to float, the walls began to melt here and there.

"My God, what the hell is this?" Kyouko shouted. The stone tile she was standing on started to rise and lift her up. She jumped off, but her feet did not touch the ground.

"This is what I tried to tell you back then!" Homura answered.

The scenery had changed. They were standing in a concert hall, the seats were occupied by hundreds of cartoony Madokas, Kyoukos and Hitomis. Ghostly violinists played the eerie background music for their rhythmic applause. And something horrible was lying on the stage. It lashed at the orchestra with its fish's tail then it pushed its weight into the air with its two armored arms, and floated toward the two girls.

Kyouko was floating helplessly, mesmerized by the approaching monstrosity. Homura shook her, but she kept on staring at the horror's three empty eye sockets.

"What's this...?" She mumbled. Homura could hardly understand.

"This is Sayaka!" The raven-haired girl shouted at her. At last Kyouko shook her head.

"We must save her! There must be a way to turn her back!" The redhead cried through the insane cacophony. At last she had come around.

An immense sword smashed the floor at their feet. The abomination was rearing over the girls. Kyouko did not give up. She held up her soul gem.

"She's a witch now, isn't she? If you can cleanse your soul gem with a grief seed, why couldn't it work the other way around?" She shouted.

It was a lunatic idea. It never even had come into Homura's mind, but now she was desperate enough to give it a try. Her hands moved by themselves as she grabbed the small gem which contained her real self. They trained their soul gems at the witch and charged at her.

A pitch-black wheel impacted between them. The explosion threw them away like rag dolls. Kyouko dropped her gem, which disappeared amid the debris. She started to dig after it, scared to death, flinging concrete chunks behind her back. A few dozen more wheels targeted her. She was pondering her options. One was to evade the wheels and possibly lose her gem. The other was to keep on digging and probably die. She chose the second. Her own caricatures were laughing at the death-trap she was sitting in.

Nerve-racking buzzing broke the cacophony. Kyouko covered her ears in pain. The approaching wheels exploded into thousands of splinters and the whole stage shattered. The orchestra and the audience fell silent, or her hearing failed her. But she could still hear that ghastly buzzing with her covered ears... it was climbing to shrieking heights, stayed there for a brief moment then suddenly stopped. A tripod was standing before Homura, holding a longish, rotating... blur. Next to it a knee-high pile of bullet casings.

'Holy God, does a weapon like this exist?' Kyouko shuddered.

Homura took aim again and fired; The weapon's whine climbed to a painful shriek, cruelly indifferent to it's merely human wielders. The stream of bullets traced a line of ruin across the monster's flesh; Bloody gobbets of pulverised meat rained down on the girls as remorseless fire sawed the witch in half. It's severed tail falling to the floor, still twitching to suddenly meaningless impulses.

Homura dashed to Kyouko and grabbed her hand. Suddenly the shreds froze in the air.

"We must run, they've already arrived!" She shouted. "Don't worry about your gem, I've found it! And don't release my hand if you don't want to die!"

Kyouko dazedly staggered behind the raven-haired girl. She did not really care what would happen to her, just took step after step mechanically. The floor she was treading on, the walls that surrounded her, everything had frozen into bizarre waves, just to mock her senses. She could see a group of motionless people in chemical protective suits installing a bomb-like metal cylinder near the escalator. Suddenly they started to move. The spell had broken, they fell back into the flow of time.

"Civilians in the tunnel!" Someone exclaimed.

They were hustled out of the station by uniformed people. As they approached the surface they heard the car-mounted speakers repeating the same message.

"This is an evacuation warning! This is your mayor speaking. 7th Avenue subway station is closing indefinitely. Preventive chemical operation will be commenced at 19:00. Every citizen must leave the area between the street numbers 457 and 686. After 19:00 we can not guarantee your safety! For compensation you can apply to the Mayor's Office. I repeat, this is an evacuation warning..."

They finally got released behind a black van.

"At last we found you!" A woman said from inside the cargo space. Olivia jumped out of the van. She wore a camouflage uniform and something resembling a diving mask.

Homura froze. She gestured silence to the woman, then pointed to Kyubey who was snooping around the cars.

"Don't worry, we can see him too, thanks to Walter." Olivia placed one hand on the girl's shoulder while she waved with the other. The little creature tumbled over, bounced a few meters then did not move anymore. A few drops of some red liquid oozed out of the gaping hole in his head.

"The snipers have these too." The woman pointed at her diving mask.

"We must get out of sight, he'll be here again soon!" Homura exclaimed while running. She was still dragging Kyouko by her hand. "We'll all be at the lab tomorrow!"

Olivia nodded.

The girls stopped in an alley a few blocks away.

"What the hell is going on?" Kyouko panted.

"Quarantine." Homura moaned. "That's done it..."

"You know them." Kyouko stated.

"I wanted you to meet them." The raven-haired girl answered.

"And they gave you that... what was that? OK, I don't want to know."

"I haven't the foggiest. Some Massive Dynamic invention."

They kept standing with their eyes cast down. Both girls were blinking and wiping their eyes. It took a while to compose themselves, but... someone just had to utter the words. They raised their eyes at once and exchanged a look.

"How can we tell Madoka about this?"


	5. Perdition Crisis

**Magical Girl Crusade chapter 4: Perdition Crisis**

Homura downheartedly staggered home. Wherever she walked she heard little paws stalking behind her. She couldn't say if they were real or just the echo of her own steps distorted by her imagination. Whenever she turned around she couldn't see anything, especially not Kyubey.

The sky had long turned pitch black when she finally arrived. The receptionist opened the house.

"This new hairstyle looks good on you, Akemi-san. But how is it that you've already left the hospital? Your father said that you'd have to be in there for another month!" he greeted her.

He may had not seen the bloodstains on her face and clothes. Or maybe he had, so he did not dare to ask anything else. Homura did not even answer this one disturbing question. She couldn't even imagine how she could change the world like this.

Before her apartment she felt dizzy for a moment, but she collected herself and opened the door. She found everything in order. She lived here alone, pictures and documentation of witches made up most of her belongings. This was no longer the showy modernist hall where she used to keep Walpurgisnacht exhibitions for the other girls: since the second time she tried to defeat her alone (and almost gave up) she had always rented this much smaller, humble apartment.

Two weeks ago she lent most of the documentation to the Americans. She got rid of her digital screens too, she only kept one single computer to follow the news, do some necessary research, and remind herself of her mission. Now she could see the animated image of Walpurgis on that screen. A shiver ran down her spine.

She was deadly tired and felt dirty inside and out. She threw her clothes in the laundry basket and took a hot shower. Now her body was clean, but no water could clean her soul. Every time she closed her eyes she was haunted by the images of Sayaka the witch. She could see herself cutting Madoka's childhood friend in two. It was her doing and there was no way to get it right anymore. She also saw the material that filled the subway station. A yellowish, hard, transparent block of plastic which had enclosed Sayaka for all eternity. Homura shuddered.

She heard the sneaking paws behind again.

"So now you're peeping too, you little bastard! Take that!" she turned around to front the enemy and flung her nightgown at the chair she suspected him to be sitting on. The chair was empty. She grabbed a bread knife and rummaged through the room. She found nothing. Suddenly she found herself face to face with the mirror. The change in her appearance terrified her. She altered the same way as a cute, healthy kitten does when dropped in water. Like she had taken off her cool, professional attitude together with her neat magical girl dress. Now she saw an emaciated, naked rat in the mirror, with an insane stare, driven by hunger and predatory instincts. She was ready to kill anything that dared to move around her, ready to stab it again and again until it'd stop moving for good. Should her classmates see her now, no one would admire her, they'd run on sight.

Could this be a magical girl? Could this be Akemi Homura...?

'You have a great name. Live up to it!'

That was what Madoka had said the first time they met.

'She wouldn't run away.'

This thought soothed her disturbed mind. She slowly closed her eyes and stood up, her grip on the knife slackening. It fell on the thin carpet with a quiet tap. She'd won for now, she remained herself... but, for the first time, she felt a relief when she thought of not being able to replay this month again. She wasn't sure how long she could keep her sanity. And there was no such thing as an insane magical girl. Those things were called witches. She staggered to her bed and collapsed.

'No way I could fall asleep.' She thought wrapping herself in her blanket. She did not even realize how wrong she was. She did not move a muscle until morning.

* * *

><p>'Good morning, Akemi Homura!' The little animal greeted her.<p>

The girl glanced at the knife on the floor but she resisted the temptation.

'I don't think you'd do it. It wouldn't be as clean a job as last evening.' Kyubey remarked.

Homura realized she had left the window open. She sighed.

"I haven't done anything to you at all."

'Let alone it would be totally pointless. You certainly know that I have many spare bodies to move into.' the little mascot kept on speaking.

Homura sat up, took the blanket and threw it on the creature. It was high time to go.

Kyubey wriggled out of the blanket. 'I don't understand why you humans are disturbed when you're seen without your clothes.' He sat down before the girl wagging his tail.

"Want to know? Let me pluck your fancy white fur then." Homura grunted out.

'It is not the same. But you really don't look that strong like this. What had you been doing before you started to hunt me?' He inquired.

"I had been hospitalized for a long time. Just like a few more victims of yours. But what the hell do you want from me now?" The girl asked while putting on her clothes for the new day. "Why are you sneaking up on me like a ghost?"

'I'm not sneaking.' He answered. 'It's just I've been neglecting you lately.'

"You should have held on to this habit of yours." She flicked her hair.

She stepped out of her apartment and locked the door.

'One should never neglect their earlier investments.' He continued. 'You're going to contribute our world's longevity with a great amount of energy, Akemi Homura.'

"Sounds like you couldn't endear yourself to Madoka." She countered.

'You're about to tell her what happened to Miki Sayaka. It hinders my business.' He summarized.

Her stomach shrank. For a minute she had almost forgotten where she was going now. She left the house in deadly silence. Kyouko joined her from a side street. They greeted each other without a word and kept on walking.

'Good morning, Sakura Kyouko!' Kyubey greeted the redhead.

"So you're really alive." Kyouko snarled at him. "What a pity."

'It seems I'm not welcome here. Good bye and good luck! You'll need it!' The little mascot disappeared in an alley.

They were approaching the school, they already saw Madoka beckoning.

'If we could stop time for a while... that would just prolong our misery.' Homura's train of thought wrecked.

They stopped in front of the pink-haired girl, with their heads bowed. Madoka had evil forebodings.

"I'm so sorry, Madoka..." Homura began, then she fell silent. She just couldn't force herself to speak.

Kyouko steeled her heart and finished the sentence.

"We lost Sayaka." She said tonelessly.

Madoka stood stunned for a while. She was on the very edge of crying.

"Homura-chan... Kyouko-chan...? You are Kyouko-chan, aren't you...? What do you mean you lost her?" She asked, but she was almost certain of the answer.

"Sayaka... has turned into a witch." Kyouko admitted.

"We tried everything to bring her back. I'm sorry, Madoka." Homura added.

"Is she dead?" the pink-haired girl asked. 'Did you kill her?' She could have asked, but she did not want to know.

'No one knows what really happened to her.' A voice answered in their heads. 'A group of people in peculiar suits froze her in the tunnel. It's a strange method to patch space-time with plastic, but it seems to work.'

"Kyubey... how could you do this?" Madoka sniffled.

'Miki Sayaka was aware of the details. It was her choice to make a contract.' The little creature answered. 'Akemi Homura, you had told her everything, hadn't you?'

The raven-haired girl gritted her teeth. She took her silenced Beretta.

"Homura-chan!" Madoka cried. She scaredly reached for the other girl's hand.

'Moreover, she helped the universe.' Kyubey kept on talking. 'Madoka, do you know what the word 'entropy' means?'

"I know, Kyubey. Now I understand everything." As the pink-haired girl spoke her voice darkened together with her look. She gently unfolded Homura's fingers and grasped the weapon's grip. She cocked it with a quiet click.

'I don't understand you humans. There are 6900 million of you living on this planet. Why do you bother about losing just one of them for the greater good?' Kyubey wondered scratching himself. The second click wasn't any louder, but it smashed him against the ground. This time he bounced only once and remained still. No-one other than the three girls had noticed what happened.

Madoka kept silent. Teardrops fell on the pavement before her feet. She slowly lowered the gun.

"Now I really understand everything, Homura-chan. I even understand how it feels to kill. I'm really sorry for everything you had to go through because of me. I won't ever forget it! You can trust me!" She wept.

"You're too kind, Madoka." Homura sniffled. "But, for the first time, I really don't mind..."

Kyouko watched the two girls sobbing on each other's shoulders and she just couldn't help joining them.


	6. Border of Life

**Magical Girl Crusade chapter 5: Border of Life**

"Girls, why are you crying so hard?"

Mami has arrived. She stopped at the dead Kyubey and curiously poked the corpse with the tip of her shoe.

"I doubt you're mourning for him." She remarked. "Akemi, how come you didn't shoot him before? I thought he couldn't be killed."

"He can't be, not really." Homura answered, wiping her eyes. "You have no idea how many times I've seen him lying like this. But we should go now, I wouldn't like him to find us when he comes back."

They shot off. After a few blocks they caught a bus (the subway towards the university had been shut down last evening). The bus crawled with the traffic, the roads were clogged by buses and those thousands of refugees who were leaving the city with their crammed family cars. For some reason they thought that there were safe places outside. On the other side of the road a steady flow of disaster tourists took their place. They wanted to see the places where the universe had begun to break down. Demonstrations occupied a few more streets, just like Dr Bishop had predicted.

Something had gone badly wrong yesterday. Because of surges in the electric grid they had lost control over a train. The dispersed gas had already solidified when the train crushed into the quarantined station so no one got ambered, still, there were dozens of casualties.

"Sayaka is missing. Something happened to her, didn't it?" Mami asked.

The others nodded silently and kept on sitting with their heads bowed.

"I see. I was so stupid not to shoot down that white little bastard when I got into rifle range... I was just shouting instead and Sayaka didn't listen. There was no need for her to make that contract. I could have saved Hitomi and the others myself... " Mami confessed.

Madoka raised up her head a little. Mami could see slight interest in her eyes. She kept on talking.

"It happened a few days after we all met in the lab. Except Sakura-san, of course. I sensed a witch in the vicinity of the hospital."

"Sayaka-chan used to visit Kamijou-kun there in the afternoons." Madoka noted.

"A group of people locked themselves up in some broken-down building to attempt group suicide. Hitomi was among them. It was clearly the witch's doing. Sayaka knew it and she stepped in to save them. I suspect that she wished for Kamijou-kun's healing, but he wasn't really thankful to her. It seems to me that he let Hitomi turn his head. Sayaka must have felt betrayed, but I'm quite sure she kept secret what she had done for them." Mami summarized. "It's my fault, I could have prevented it all."

"You're wrong, Mami. It's my fault." Homura objected. "I should have told you. If you'd known, Sayaka would still be alive! Poor, poor Madoka!"

Madoka looked at her. Homura was as white as a ghost, she watched something they couldn't see. She clung to the handrails so tenaciously that the steel pipe bent in her grip.

"Mami... Madoka... Where are you?" She mumbled.

"Are you OK?" Mami asked. She took a cup of tea out of thin air and tried to hand it to Homura, but the raven-haired girl just looked through it. But as soon as it got in her aura, the tea started to slowly climb up the wall of the cup and dripped down on the outer side.

Kyouko's eyes widened in horror. She had already seen something similar. She activated the alarm without thinking. The driver slammed on the brakes, the doors sprang open.

"We must take her out of here, now!" Kyouko shouted. She tried to drag Homura's hand off the handrail but she held to it tightly. The steel tube gave in, though, it tore as easily as a warm candle. Kyouko had a look around: she saw many suspicious eyes focused on them, a man was already talking on his phone. Kyouko had even known the number he had called. It had been announced on every channel, every single hour.

Mami and Madoka took hold of Homura and jumped off the bus with her. They were at the edge of a park. They seated her on a bench, Mami sat next to her, tried to bring her around.

"Talk to her! Don't let her alone for a second!" the redhead exclaimed. She was delving in her pocket for something.

Madoka got down on her knees next to Homura and took her hands.

"Homura-chan, I don't know what you see now, but you must know that we're here with you!" She began.

"Airships," the raven-haired girl answered in a hollow voice. "Everywhere in the sky. I think I know where I am."

"No, Homura-chan! You are in a park with Mami-san, Kyouko-san and me!" Madoka was almost crying again.

"They also saw me over here last night," The transfer student mumbled. "I was taken for someone else."

"Homura-chan, we'll be in Dr Bishop's lab soon! He'll know what to do!" Madoka burst into tears again.

Mami saw that the pink-haired girl's words and tears were fruitless.

"Remember what you promised to Madoka!" She shook Homura's shoulders. "She cares for you, don't let her suffer even more!"

"At last!" Kyouko sighed. She held a small black gem in her hand. She brushed Madoka aside and placed the black gem on Homura's magical ring. The ring was the least conspicuous shape for a magical girl's soul gem, and also the least informative. Kyouko couldn't see how much she could cleanse it with the grief seed, only that the seed could hardly be used again. Finally she put the gem back into her pocket. Homura kept on gazing into space. Kyouko desperately slapped the raven-haired girl's face.

"Mami, do you have a spare?" She asked.

The blonde sadly shook her head. Kyouko turned back to Homura.

"Come on, it was the last piece and you almost overused it! Pick yourself up already!" she wanted to slap the girl again.

Madoka stopped her. She cradled Homura's head and stroked her hair. Kyouko walked up and down nervously.

"I just don't get it! This dummy was fine yesterday!"

"Have you met that little bastard since... you know... yesterday?" She asked Homura again.

The black river of hair in Madoka's arms stirred. Kyouko took it as a nod. Homura had apparently started to come around.

"He was there in my room in the morning. We had a little chit-chat..." She answered. "Madoka, you can let go of me now... you're choking me..."

Madoka sighed in relief.

"I'm positive that he's done something to you." Kyouko stated.

"I don't think so, that would be without precedent." Homura said.

"How do you know?" The redhead asked.

"What would you do to an uranium pellet?" Homura responded.

"...excuse me?"

"We're just fuel for him in a power plant called Earth. He does all this for the energy we emit as we burn to witches." The raven-haired girl explained.

Kyouko gave a puzzled look at Mami. The blonde nodded.

"Then it's twice as good for him to burn you fast." Kyouko summarized. "You're a very cheeky uranium pellet. Can you walk now?"

Homura got on her feet.

"Cheekier than you'd think. But you're right, let's get moving!"

A police car left the road and stopped before them with screeching brakes. Its doors slammed open and two policemen sprang out. They pointed their guns at the girls. One of them was already talking on his transmitter.

"We found them. Descriptions confirmed. Four girls, supposedly minors."

They came closer, obstructing their path.


	7. Heartful Necromancer

**Magical Girl Crusade chapter 6: Heartful Necromancer**

The girls stood motionless. It was most untimely. Not that they wouldn't end up in Walter's lab anyway, but they had no time for unnecessary detours on the day before Walpurgisnacht. Kyouko's experience told her that they could spend the next few days in confinement if they let the police take them in. Mami began to dial Peter's number.

"Don't try anything! Drop that immediately!" one of the policemen shouted at her.

They went through their pockets. Fortunately they were unable to find Homura's arsenal, but they discovered the grief seed Kyouko had just used.

"What the hell is this? Perhaps some kind of bomb?" one of the officers asked.

"There's no way you'd understand what that is. Just give it back to Kyouko." Homura said in a cold tone.

Kyouko hissed at her.

"That's not how you talk to them!" She whispered.

"It's a bit late to teach her manners. Her parents should have done it." The other policeman commented. He turned to Homura. "Your papers, young lady!"

The raven-haired girl gave her identity card to him. The officer looked up her file on his notebook. He whistled.

"How about we tell your father about the company you're keeping, Akemi-san?" He taunted her.

"You can spare yourself the trouble. I haven't talked with him for a year." Homura answered.

"Then, perhaps, it's a congregation of runaway princesses?"

The officer looked up the others' files too.

"Tomoe Mami, 16, living alone since 2008. Lost her parents in a car accident. No criminal record."

"Sakura Kyouko, 15, family murdered in 2007. No permanent address, school dropout. Arrested several times for shoplifting."

"Kaname Madoka, 14, good family, no criminal record."

It just didn't make sense. He scratched his head, but his colleague had already made up a theory.

"I think it would be the best to take them in. They don't look like terrorists to me, but wearing those rings can indicate their membership in some criminal organisation. I've never seen such a ring before, so it may be that they're just playing mafia. The whole thing may be financed by Akemi. They may have tried to make Kaname join in. We should call her parents. And Akemi's father too. He ought to talk some sense into his troublesome daughter."

They were in trouble. Kyouko knew that Homura could free them with her time stopping magic in an instant, but she should refrain from dimming her soul gem until she had fully recovered. However, this time they were lucky.

"There's no need for that." A woman said from behind them, in English.

The policemen looked up. They saw a blonde woman in camouflage uniform and a man in a leather jacket. The woman held up her identity card.

"Special agent Olivia Dunham, Fringe Division, FBI. I'll take care of them. We need them more than those red-tapists at the station." She was still speaking in English. As Kyouko saw it, this was a police provoking contest between Homura and Olivia, with the significant difference of Olivia actually being in a position to participate without consequences.

"But madam, we can't write that we just let the suspects go. It seems they're involved in some criminal organisation." The officer replied.

"I can assure you that they aren't. They're our witnesses." The woman said.

"At any rate, we have to keep a record of their data. You can't just take them away." The policeman objected.

"I brought everything along." Olivia flashed an impressive bunch of papers at them. Then she turned to the girls. "Peter will take you to the lab. I'll stay here to do the paperwork."

The policemen stood no chance against her self-assertion. Moreover, they now had someone to fix the blame on, so they shrugged and let them go. Madoka thankfully waved to her while they left with Peter.

Before they'd get in the car Peter shook hands with Kyouko.

"I'm Peter Bishop. I don't know what the others told you about me, but everything is probably true. Unfortunately I can tell the same about my father." He winked.

"Sakura Kyouko." The girl answered, a bit distracted. She hadn't known too much about the Bishops beyond the things she could figure out for herself. These people were heroes fighting against the breakdown of the universe. Alternatively, they were the charlatans that talked the government into unnecessary and insanely costly operations and were responsible for the death or injury of the passengers of a whole train.

"Pleased to meet you. We looked through a lot of candidates this morning and Olivia was quite sure that you're like them. It seems she was right." Peter said while they seated themselves. Then he turned to Homura who sat next to him.

"We saw a lot of worrisome data from your sensor this morning again. What happened to you?"

The raven-haired girl thought over the answer before she spoke.

"I think I've been over there. I wasn't too well."

"I've cleaned your soul gem a bit." Kyouko grinned from the back seat. "You'll probably survive."

"We'll talk about this. I don't want to see any more children die. Especially not you, after your heart-wrenching introduction." Peter scolded Homura. "Where's your blue-haired friend anyway?"

They fell silent. The streets Peter drove along were not as congested as the other side of the city, so it took a few blocks for Homura to answer.

"She's stuck in the subway tunnel."

"Shit!" The man cursed. "So it was her."

Homura nodded.

Peter floored it. He turned on the siren and showed them the best of his driving skills. The acceleration squeezed the girls into their seats as the car darted through the streets and barely slowed down until they reached the university. He stopped the car as close to the lab as he could.

"You've found some bizarre toy for Walter. Don't be frightened." He warned them. Then he opened the door and shouted to his father inside. "Walter, we have a new guest, her name is Sakura Kyouko!"

The girls exchanged a puzzled look. They stepped through the door with strong determination, then they almost backed out.

Kyubey was approaching, awkwardly crawling on the floor, like he had broken all his legs. His fur was missing in patches, his body was full of cuts and stitches. His body was coiled about with a tangle of colorful wires. Here and there these wires ran under his skin, and the gaping hole in his head was crammed with electronic components and more wiring. The sight was miserable and disgusting at once.

'Why, Peter, you brought our guests.' The girls heard in their heads.

'Look, isn't it fascinating?' the voice in their heads cheered.

"Walter, I don't think they'd find a zombie Incubator fascinating..." Peter warned the little creature.

The girls exchanged another puzzled look.

"Walter...?"

'Peter, I'm not doing anything these aliens wouldn't do all the time!' the zombie-Kyubey answered. He tried to get up a table, but he misdirected the jump and banged against the edge. Astrid grabbed the cat-sized body with her rubber gloves and put it over the table. She made a mouth then skillfully mopped up the barely visible bloodstain from the floor.

"He's been doing it since daybreak." She commented.

The Walter-Kyubey couldn't be distracted.

'As you can see, this is the perfect host body! It's simple and efficient! These bodies are probably grown on a production line. It has no bones, only muscles that are neurons and capillaries for the bodily fluids at the same time! Its digestive system is incredibly adaptable. It can make use of any carbon based energy source, should that be fried chicken, birch bark or gasoline. I've already sent the results to Nina Sharp, the Energetics Department will surely be interested.'

"And unique design targeting young terrestrial girls." Peter added.

"Even if it's hard to believe now." Astrid remarked with a disgusted face.

'It has a fascinating molecular structure!' The zombie-Kyubey kept on cheering in their heads. 'These creatures perfected Belly's invention. These bodies are tuned to the implanted consciousness on a molecular level. It was quite easy to neutralize this tuning, but I'll have to study the tissue samples some more to reprogram it. Dear God, we could have saved Belly with such a body back then!'

He clumsily climbed up a microscope to devotedly examine the mentioned tissue sample, then he fell together with the instrument. Peter hid his face in his palm and shook his head.

"Walter, wouldn't you stop it?"

'Sorry son,' Dr Bishop answered. 'I'm afraid I miscalculated the dose a bit, so I think you'll have to bear with me being like this for while.'

Peter and Astrid exchanged a tired look. The girls gradually got used to the situation. Kyouko even smiled a little. Ridiculing the immortal enemy proved to be a good therapy, after all.

'Girls, I'll need your help with this thing later.' Walter-Kyubey said. 'But now we have a more urgent problem, don't we, Akemi-san?'

"True." Homura nodded. "The night of Walpurgis is upon us. Though I feel really sorry for what happened yesterday, I'm glad that this many of us have survived. I had to fight her alone lately, which was a lost cause. But I'm positive that the three of us magical girls can defeat her. Or, to be more precise, we could have defeated her in ordinary times. But as you have experienced too, now witches may be accompanied by phenomena that are beyond our magic."

"What you did this morning was weird enough!" Kyouko commented.

Homura didn't bat an eyelid, just flicked her hair.

"We've been preparing for this announcement for several days. Dr Bishop had studied the documents I provided him, and offered his help on behalf of the Fringe Division and Massive Dynamic. We'll have to accept it, because even if we could beat Walpurgis she'd wreak havoc on our world."

The undead Kyubey held up his right forepaw. All eyes focused on him. He was holding a little metal cylinder in his mouth. It was a laser pointer and its beam was directed at a conventional blackboard full of scribbled formulae, calculations and explanatory figures. A display was also placed next to the blackboard, showing a looped record of a circular waterfall in a shallow bay inshore. It was a gaping hole in a parallel universe where their water was incontrollably leaking out of their world. This record had became a commonplace over there, it accompanied any news about their Fringe Division.

'Telepathy is useful when you use your mouth to hold things.' Walter-Kyubey remarked in their heads while he directed the little red dot on the display.

'This is the vortex of the East River, at the shores of the alternate New York. They're constantly fighting with tears like this. If they didn't contain soft spots in time they'd have a lot more of them by now. Our world is bound to break down the same way, but fortunately we've been lagging behind them in this respect for the last two decades. However, we seem to have fallen into line with them lately.'

Homura was thankful to him for not mentioning her role in closing this gap.

'With some help I could synthesize their 'amber'. And fortunately our Olivia had the opportunity to study their methods, so we can take the same measures... However painful those measures might be.'

Walter-Kyubey sprang up to the top of the large chunk of transparent material he had showed them last time.

'Sakura-san, you haven't seen it yet, have you? Just take it, you can't do any harm, it's light and practically unbreakable.' He jumped off the piece of amber.

Kyouko curiously studied it.

"So this is what you used yesterday? Is this strong enough for Walpurgis?" She asked.

'Nothing could leak out, at least nothing our sensors could detect. It was designed to contain black holes before they'd open. Do you know anything more devastating than a black hole? Everything it swallows escapes in the end, but it takes an incredibly long time and it leaves as a homogenous radiation of indistinguishable quanta. There's nothing in this world with higher entropy than the radiation of a black hole.'

Kyouko stood silent. Madoka kept quiet too. What she had heard stabbed at her heart. Sayaka hadn't simply died. She had been banished from the world, entombed in ghostly plastic for all eternity. And even this fate seemed better than being swallowed by a black hole. She thought that it could even devour the soul.

"...and why the witches? And why Sayaka?" Mami asked.

'For the same reason these aliens are here.' Walter-Kyubey answered. 'Emotions are another form of energy. When I was younger, I was experimenting with this energy too, though I did not understand its nature. The child Olivia was one of my test subjects. The most successful one, I have to say. When she was in dread of her stepfather she could spontaneously cross the border between two universes. And in your case, the effect is much stronger, because you've had your souls artificially bared. This poor blue-haired friend of yours was suffering so much she literally broke that border. She created so much energy that the violation of the laws of physics was a mere side effect. And the Incubators can make use of this very energy.'

"Stop here!" Peter interrupted his lecture. "They told me in the car that Akemi crossed over too this morning. This is why we received the abnormal data. As a matter of fact, they still haven't returned to normal. We should keep an eye on Akemi. And, more importantly, she should stay at a safe and happy place for a while."

"I think that would be a place hidden from Kyubey." Kyouko remarked.

Mami nodded. The redhead continued.

"I'm pretty sure he's done something to her. He may still be doing it. Couldn't we look for something that he implanted or... I don't know?"

The old scientist agreed.

'Good idea. We can't be too careful. Akemi-san, please stand there, between the two plates! Keep your clothes on, those are the most suspicious. It's much easier to hide something in them than to perform surgical operations behind the subject's back. However, we can't rule out the latter either. Astrid, take a picture of the young lady please.'

"X-ray...?" Homura wondered.

"Not exactly." Astrid answered while she was scanning the Homura-shaped blob on the screen. "Walter, I see something! It looks like spider web woven in the fabric."

'Good grief! Peter, try to wake me up! I prepared a syringe, that 75 milligrams should do now.' They heard in their heads.

Peter walked to the armchair his unconscious father was resting in. Though the old scientist's head was coiled in wires just like the undead mascot he was controlling, he still looked better this way than his temporary zombie alien body. He had rolled up the sleeve of his shirt to help what Peter was about to do. Peter took the syringe and stabbed it in Walter's arm. All eyes focused on Dr Bishop. A few seconds later they heard a quiet tap as he lost control over his undead body and began to return to the original. He opened his eyes and looked around with a disoriented expression. He darted up from the armchair then lurched to the screen like a drunken sailor.

"Take that sweater off!" He shouted at Homura. "You'll get another one from Astrid."

"He uses that to drain her life force, doesn't he?" Kyouko asked.

"I'm not sure." Walter answered. "And I wouldn't like to speculate. It may be a mere tracer or bug. I don't think I could determine it here. Pack it together with the tissue samples, and send it to that Brandon guy."

"Tracer? Bug?" Homura shuddered. "Then Kyubey may know everything now!"

"It would be the best to scan us all!" Mami suggested as she stood between the plates.

Walter went through the display carefully but couldn't find anything suspicious. Everything seemed normal with Kyouko and Madoka too.

"Maybe she's the one he suspected the most. Or Sakura-san was right and it's really harmful." Peter speculated.

Walter nodded.

"You should check Akemi-san's apartment, son. Tell Olivia to obtain a search warrant and go with her to examine the apartment when she'd get it. Take Astrid with you too, she can handle these!" He pointed to an open briefcase full of instruments.

Peter took the briefcase and the suspicious sweater and left with his phone in his hand. Dr Bishop turned to Homura.

"We can assume that your flat is not safe now. Peter's right, you can't go home tonight. Would you like to stay here in the lab? Or perhaps you'd like to go to the hotel with Olivia?"

"She could come home with me too. My parents surely wouldn't mind if Homura-chan slept there." Madoka blushed.

"How could I not think of it!" Dr Bishop slapped his forehead. "As far as I know her spending the night with her Madoka would be the best for Homura-chan!"

"WALTER!"

Astrid was shocked. Mami's look did not promise anything good either. Madoka and Homura looked down in embarrassment. Kyouko grinned from ear to ear.

"Sorry, but I can't see any problem with it." Dr Bishop mumbled. "When I was a graduate student at the MIT there were two girls at the campus. One of them wore her hair like Akemi-san, but her figure was more like Tomoe-san's, not that I'd like to mock Akemi-san or anything... she was a real genius, I haven't seen anyone so good with synthetic drugs since then."

He warily looked around. Mami and Astrid were still glowering at him.

"OK, I must admit that I was angry at her because I had no chance with her..."

Kyouko chuckled biting another biscuit. They did not realize when she had got hold of them, but she had been nibbling them for a while. Astrid snatched the box out of her hand.

"Walter, your labs are death-traps! First you poison Peter, then Broyles, and now Sakura-san!"

Kyouko looked at her curiously.

"Never forget that you can't just eat something you find near Walter!" Astrid warned her, but she didn't take her too seriously.

"It won't do any harm, she'll just be a bit more cheerful, that's all. These girls could really use a bit of cheer, if you ask me." Dr Bishop grunted. "But we should really be concerned about the things we have to do tomorrow! Peter and Olivia had already made a plan with Akemi-san. Your friend knows when and where the witch is going to manifest, and we spent days assembling the task force for this action. Wasn't an easy job at all, to find the required number of soldiers who meet our very specific conditions. We had an even harder time with the air support, but we'll need it because of the size of Walpurgis."

"Then why do you need us to be there at all?" Mami asked. She realized how reversed this situation was: these humans were preparing to protect magical girls from a witch.

"It's a shame for me to endanger children again, but we have to send you there." Walter said. "The chances are that this entity perceives you girls the most clearly of this world. And if it sensed you, it probably wouldn't begin to hunt civilians. We also can't assume that it lacks intelligence. You'll have to attack it like you normally would. And you'll have to keep it in the prepared area until the amber solidifies, at any price. We have to quarantine the place, even if you defeat it. Its mere manifestation can open a black hole in the middle of Mitakihara, and then we wouldn't be as lucky as the other universe with their first permanent vortex. We could convince the government to evacuate the coastal district, but that was all, so we could expect about a million casualties in that case."

"Wow, that would be like nuking the city!" Kyouko interrupted.

Homura's face turned ashen. She felt like smacking the redhead's face and hiding in shame at once. No, they really don't need to know how she had defeated this witch last time...

"Akemi-san, you use regular weapons, don't you?" Mami asked the raven-haired girl.

Homura nodded, still shaking a bit. Mami continued.

"Then you should keep Walpurgis under fire. She's a tough opponent and we don't stand a chance to get her grief seed even though I'm sure we'll badly need it. So we really shouldn't waste our magical powers on her."

"Yet we may need your magic." Homura said. "I know the time and the location, but I don't know which form she'll choose this time. She often grows on a tree and remains there for a long time. But sometimes she comes flying and we may need to restrain her to keep her in the gas cloud. I know that you often use your ribbons that way. Just be careful, she's not as easy to bind as I am."

For some reason she had often got in the way of Mami's ribbons during her countless replays.

"Even Peter and Olivia could do that." Dr Bishop remarked.

"What? How could a magical girl be caught by mere humans?" Mami asked, surprised.

"Because I let them." Homura flicked her hair.

Kyouko almost choked.

"Madoka, don't forget to tie her up, she likes it!" She laughed.

Mami sighed. She just couldn't lightheartedly enjoy the stoned Kyouko's jokes.

"Dr Bishop, couldn't we give her a cold shower?" She asked.

"Why wouldn't we let her have a good time?" Walter objected. "Don't worry, she'll remember everything. And it even helps her creativity! We can always use a few good ideas!"

But Astrid agreed with Mami and led the redhead out of the room. The rest of the girls stood in silence while sounds of splashing, snorting and thrashing filtered through the door.

Mami had some time to think over the upcoming battle. She had been angry and disappointed when Homura withheld Madoka from helping her in this great fight, but later she realized that the mysterious girl was led by good intentions. And now that Mami knew that she hadn't known before, she wouldn't have wished anyone, let alone Madoka, to become a magical girl. And to top it all, now they would fight side by side with Homura. And they would let their prize slip together. Legends said that Walpurgis' grief seed would grant eternal life to any magical girl, and even though Mami didn't believe in these legends, she knew that they could use a grief seed after such a hard fight.

The creole woman has appeared with their fourth companion. Kyouko's hair was soaking wet and she was wearing someone else's clothes, averting her eyes from Astrid.

"You really shouldn't have done that. I can sober up by myself." She grunted, then she turned to the other girls.

"Do you want me to fire at Walpurgis together with Homura? We can't really make use of my spear if we have to keep our distance, after all. Don't worry, I have some experience with firearms. And they can get some for me, I presume. They must know some big shots if they could get that non-existent minigun for Akemi..."

"Weapons Department of Massive Dynamic is at your service, young lady!" Walter answered. "Everything's free of charge as I am the owner of the company."

"Cool." The redhead acknowledged. "And what's next?"

She stunned the other girls into silence. Mami had been focusing on the problem Walpurgis posed and Homura had almost forgotten about the time outside the month she had been repeating over and over and over. But one thing was clear as day.

"We have to kill Kyubey." They said in unison, with determined looks.

Walter nodded in agreement.

"I've found out a few things during the autopsy. I think they'll be useful for us." He said.


	8. Bet on Death

**Magical Girl Crusade chapter 7: Bet on Death**

They left the university together after Homura had thanked Walter for all his efforts. It was dark night again, just like a few weeks ago, and the stars were shining bright.

"It'll be windy tomorrow." Kyouko remarked, with strange determination in her voice. "Go without me, I need to have a few words with the old man."

She turned to the old scientist.

"Dr Bishop, do you have a few more minutes? I did not want to mention it with Akemi in the room, but I think we all forgot about something..."

The other three didn't break their stride.

"What could she be up to? If she sees a hole in our plan, why didn't she tell us?" Homura wondered.

"I think the plan is good. Now you have to rest. We can't afford to be exhausted when we face Walpurgis tomorrow." Mami warned her companions.

They kept on walking in silence. Soon the blonde girl said goodbye too, leaving Madoka and Homura alone in the deserted streets. They were already crossing the vacated district.

"Is she really going to manifest here?" Madoka asked. They stopped under a tree.

"There, in that park." Homura pointed, then she swept the horizon with her finger. "And she'll ruin everything around us, while the sea will flood the city through the river."

Tomorrow, this place will be destroyed, one way or another. Madoka shivered. She watched the other girl, mesmerized, as she was speaking. Especially her face. Homura had finally taken off the mask she had been wearing among people. 'It must be exhausting to be her.' Madoka thought.

"There's the place where I vowed to save you. We were lying there, waiting for death. But you gave me a new life and sent me back. And this is my last chance. Madoka, please, let me protect you this time!" Homura reached for Madoka's hands.

Madoka kept silent, just held on the other girls hands tight. The raven-haired girl kept on talking, at once determined, and on the verge of crying.

"I believe that finally I've found the only way. This time we can make it without corrupting you! I was such a fool... to try it alone, again and again... I thought I could defeat her. I wanted to grow to be like you, to defeat her with a single, overwhelming blow! But it's impossible for me. I can only win if I destroy everything I was fighting for. Madoka, I don't want anything like that to happen anymore!" Tears were gathering in her eyes.

"I saw that you almost ran at Kyouko-chan when she mentioned nuking. So this is what happened, isn't it?" The pink-haired girl asked.

Homura nodded. Her tears ran down her cheeks. Seeing her like this broke Madoka's heart.

"Poor, guilty Homura-chan..." She said gently. "I'd rather have stayed dead for the first time, I'd rather have become a monster with you than see you suffer like this. What kind of witch was I? You said that I was great. And Kyubey said that I could probably be the strongest magical girl ever existed."

"You were majestic, Madoka." Homura answered. "While Walpurgis absorbed people, houses and trees, everything, you took them into your world... at least I felt that way. But it was still terrifying."

'You're just afraid of what you don't understand. Why don't you let Madoka fulfill her destiny? You'll inevitably lose in the end. Let her make the strongest wish. Let her be majestic!' They heard in their heads.

No, not again... Homura gritted her teeth.

"Why do you say that we'll inevitably lose? Has Walpurgis grown that strong in this timeline? You don't mean...?"

'No. I didn't say that your team cannot beat her.' The white furry mascot answered, wagging his grotesquely large tail. 'I can't remember your previous tries, but you've done well this time. You have enlisted two experienced magical girls and probably the greatest genius of your era to aid you. And Walpurgis is just another witch, after all. What I say is that you, Akemi Homura, are destined to lose. Only Madoka can save you now.'

If Homura had been able to kill with her eyes, only floating fur tufts would have remained of Kyubey. If Madoka had been able, the alien would have never returned.

'Don't think I'm stupid.' He continued. 'I know that you're watched over now, you've got strange and influental allies after all. I just wanted to warn you. But I have to go now.'

And he really departed. His head exploded off his neck, the rest of his body slid a few meters on the pavement. A black-uniformed soldier darted out of the shadows and picked up the corpse. Homura recognized the diving mask he was wearing.

"Are you okay, girls?" He asked.

"Y... yes." Madoka moaned, though it wasn't exactly true.

It took some walking, but they finally arrived at the Kaname household. Madoka opened the door, and the two girls sneaked in, silently, lest they wake up her baby brother. But her father was sleepless, he was waiting close to the door.

"What did you took so long, Madoka?" He asked his daughter. "Junko will be back from the team building soon."

"Sorry, dad. I was really at that lecture." The girl answered. "Now I can tell you that it was held by Dr Bishop."

"Be very careful with that man!" Her father warned. "I've seen him on TV, and it looked like he's got a screw loose. I don't understand how can our government grant him such a great authority."

"And who is she?" He looked at Homura.

"She's the transfer student I've talked about." Madoka explained. "Homura-chan is suffering from heart disease, you know. And her parents can't take care of her now, but she wouldn't like to go back to the hospital. She's a good girl."

"Kaname Tomohisa." The man gave her his hand.

"Akemi Homura." The girl bowed ritually. "Thank you for letting me stay here."

As she stepped in the kitchen she couldn't believe her eyes. There was a big bowl of steaming rice on the table and many small dishes, all shaped with care. She could see a fruit basket and a pair of plates, with rabbits carved out of apples.

"Wait a moment, I'll make another one for you!" Tomohisa smiled.

Homura was speechless. Tomohisa quickly carved another rabbit out of an apple, put it on a plate, and placed it on the table before the raven-haired girl.

"Because it's their year!" He commented.

"You've never told me that you have such a great father!" Homura whispered to Madoka. The pink-haired girl blushed.

"How come that your parents have no time to be with you?" The man asked.

"They divorced many years ago. My father is the assistant manager of Seihou Chemicals, and he works for my grandfather. He's seldom at home." Homura answered. She didn't mention that she had never gone home after leaving the hospital, but filled her transfer papers and rented an apartment in Mitakihara instead. She kept silent about her drunkard mother too. Homura never felt too lucky about her parents, but at least they did not abuse her, and her father could pay for her medication.

"Well, we won't tell it to Junko. Not until she's sobered up. Seihou is the greatest rival of her company." Tomohisa whispered, listening to the noises from the front door. Keys clinked, the lock turned, again, again, the door slammed open, something fell. Then the door closed, very gently. A hand appeared on the frame of the kitchen door, then another one. Then a woman appeared in the door, wearing an elegant (albeit a bit crinkled) suit and once carefully applied make-up. She flashed a bright smile at her daughter.

"What's up, Madoka? Did you invite your little friend for dinner?"

"My name is Akemi Homura." The guest introduced herself.

"All right, all right, stop bowing already! I'm starving to death! What can we eat?"

The meal was just as delicious as it looked. Junko amazed Homura: liking to drink seemed to be the only similarity with her own mother. It would have been normal for her to envy Madoka for her parents, but she failed at it. Maybe Madoka was right and she was a good girl. Homura chuckled over this thought, but in a moment the sadness returned. She finally understood what she had told Madoka every time she led her to the nurse's office. They were the people whom Madoka loved and cared for. And last time she killed them too. Every time she forgot about the maze she was going through again and again, a stab at her heart sobered her. And she saw in Madoka's eyes that she felt for her.

She was sitting upstairs in Madoka's room, surrounded by stuffed toys. She let the other girl take pictures of her, she could even flash a feeble smile. She couldn't shake the feeling that the smaller girl was making memories... Had she spoiled her last chance? This time she'd got too close to Madoka - while she was doomed. Kyubey was right, there was no way for her to win. She'd signed her own death warrant when she formed a contract. Even if it was for Madoka's sake, it'll hurt the other girl in the end. She wished Madoka wouldn't care for her as she sorrowfully stared her soul gem in her hand.

Madoka laid her hands on hers and smiled at her. Homura gave her the purple gem without resisting. The other girl held it in her hands like it was a little animal.

"Homura-chan's soul." Madoka cradled the egg-shaped jewel. Her simple words carried magic.

She asked Homura to talk about their other lives, their other selves. The raven-haired girl told her everything she remembered. Homura tried to protect her from the painful details, but she gently demanded her to tell everything. The poor, lost time-traveler eventually relaxed a bit and gave in to sleep in Madoka's arms.

When she woke up sun was shining on her face and her soul gem was placed in her hand. Her fingers sensed a little scratch she had overlooked before. A tiny yet deep scar, surrounded by an expanding cloud of darkness. Her blood ran cold. Now she understood what had happened to her. Kyubey's 'warning' had gained a new meaning. Yes, it was this easy to deal with unruly fuel.


	9. Decoration Battle

**Magical Girl Crusade chapter 8: Decoration Battle**

This time their plan was so good that even Kyubey acknowledged that they should win against Walpurgis. Homura had done well this time, she had really protected Madoka from contracting. But this way Homura herself became the weak point. There was nothing left for her but to keep quiet about this, and stick to their plan. She could say goodbye later when there'd be no way left for Madoka to sacrifice herself, ruining all her efforts. Then Madoka could live, the world could live, and she could rest in peace. She won't let herself become a witch.

She took off the pyjamas she'd got from Madoka, put on her incomplete school uniform, clenched her fists and joined the pink-haired girl in the kitchen. Homura had become her knight again, for this last battle. Madoka was the center of everything, the cause and victim of this temporal loop, she deserved to see the outcome of this final fight. And to have a role in it.

"I'm sorry, Madoka." The dark-haired girl apologized. "I can't afford to feel anything right now. But this last time I ask you, should anything happen, don't listen to Kyubey!"

Madoka realized that Homura was just acting. She grasped that something was wrong, she felt that the other girl was crying inside. But this time she knew about all the past timelines, she was resolved not to waste Homura's efforts, and her hate for Kyubey just fortified her determination.

Poor Homura-chan, you've taken so much on... I hope that at last, from tomorrow on, you can be free. As for today, you can trust me, just like I said. I won't let you down this time." Madoka answered, then she turned to her father.

"Sorry, dad. We have a very important thing to do today. Even though I know how precious I am to you and mom, even though I know that you worry about me, this is something I can't explain right now. But it's for your sake too. Please, you too, trust me. And don't expect me to be back before dinner."

Tomohisa didn't understand anything, but he saw that they were serious. He hugged both girls as he said goodbye, and as he watched his daughter and her friend getting in a black van that was followed by several black and white Skylines, he noticed that the house was guarded by black-uniformed soldiers in diving masks. He shook his head in disbelief and waved to Madoka.

Olivia drove the van to their school. Mami joined them, and they all headed to the principal's office. This was quite a bold way to give an excuse for their absence, to turn up with an infamous agent, a group of armed bodyguards and a dozen police cars - a bold and overwhelming way. The principal, though expressing his concerns, accepted this excuse for all their past and future absence without a question.

After making a commotion in the school they picked up Kyouko too, and headed for the vacated district. At the edge they stopped at a military checkpoint. Homura could identify both JSDF and USFJ logos around, but these black-uniformed soldiers all belonged to the Fringe Task Force now. They checked their papers and let the convoy in.

After a few blocks Olivia stopped the van and led the girls around. Homura was impressed how professionally the task force followed her earlier plan to destroy Walpurgis. They had clearly outdone her preparations in a single night, even without her time-stopping magic. She checked all the important spots. Anti-aircraft guns and surface to air missiles were installed everywhere, all aimed at the place where the witch was expected to appear. Everything was camouflaged, cutting-edge and brand new. Their technicians even tapped a high voltage transmission line to charge the batteries of a pair of immense pre-production laser cannons.

Homura knew now that it would still not be enough, but this time the whole arsenal served a mere diversion. The real attack would be carried out by the troops that were now waiting, dressed in chemical protective suits, camouflaged and hidden in Faraday cages, with huge tanks of amber gas, and by the crews of modified bombers that occupied every single airstrip of the neighbouring airports. These soldiers (even the pilots) were all drugged to suppress the emotions that could unveil them to the witch. This was why they had to be chosen very carefully: they had to retain their ability to think and act as much as possible, while influenced by the drug.

Olivia led the girls into another camouflaged and shielded tent, where Massive Dynamic engineers introduced them some of their light yet devastating handguns. They also explained the working of the installed guns and missiles. The soldiers in the tent were already aware that those weapons would be handled by teenage girls, and they weren't even surprised. This was a black operation, planned by a foreign scientist, against a supernatural enemy, combined with the field test of new drugs and weapons produced by a private company. Using child soldiers just fit in the picture.

It was late afternoon when the girls took their positions. Miraculously, the sky had been clear until now. It seemed that Walpurgis chose the _blitzkrieg_ approach in this timeline. Literally. Lightning struck out of the blue, huge bright sparks stroked the skyscrapers. Widows broke, something exploded somewhere. But the lightning couldn't reach anyone. The streets were deserted, all the inhabitants gone. And few signs of the preparations could be seen from above.

Huge, menacing clouds boiled out of the clear air, seething across the sky in mere seconds. This witch did not need any barrier: she carried her own night, and cast it on the stage where she played. A weird procession approached on the surface of the river, over a bridge of ice that grew right before their feet. Stilted clowns, fire-eaters, green and pink elephants towing cages full of unnamed beasts - a whole traveling circus. They went ashore and stopped in the park that Homura had always marked with a red X on her maps. Hundreds of soldiers were following their show through binoculars and displays.

An ornate carriage opened and a surrealistic illusionist got off. He wore a dark blue swallow-tail, a huge cylinder hat and long, pointy moustache - no, he wasn't wearing them, they were drawn on him. He walked to the center of the park, took off his hat and put it upside down on the ground. He took a spade out of the hat and shoved it in the air just like he was digging. A gap in space opened at the edge of the tool. Nothing but darkness could be seen on the other side. He plunged into his hat and disappeared for a while. Then his hands appeared at the hat's rim and he climbed out. He was holding a bunch of hooks that he anchored to the edge of the gap. He tied the hooks to the surrounding trees, with ropes adorned with colorful little flags, securing the gap from closing. Then he took a seed out of his pocket, a seed with the size and looks of a blue watermelon, and dropped it into the gap. He pulled a hose out of the huge hat and watered the seed. Then he bowed and disappeared.

The ground began to tremble. A huge, burning number in the sky counted down.

5. Wind started to blow upwards, a funnel began to shape. A whirlwind again. In this decomposing world, witches often came with whirlwinds - vague visions of the vortices they could unwillingly open.

4. Massive lightning struck out of the gap, lighting the scene like a dozen suns, leaving pools of bubbling, molten glass behind.

2. A demonic tree grew out of the gap, followed by another earthquake. Visible waves ran through the ground. Pavement cracked everywhere, skyscrapers broke in half but did not fall - their broken pieces stayed floating in the air, orbiting around the growing tree. It spread its skeletal branches in the raging wind, with the magic ropes straining between them and the much smaller trees around.

1. A blue flower grew out of the topmost branch, almost the size of the tree itself, and spread its petals slowly, with theatrical grace. Space itself seemed to twist in unexpected ways around it. Here and there fireballs popped out of thin air as nitrogen molecules suddenly felt like reacting with the nearby oxygene particles. Laws of physics became elastic in the presence of the greatest witch.

Homura's hands whitened on the grips of her pistols. She aimed very carefully (which was not an easy task through the spacial distortions), pulled both triggers and watched as the blue petals disappeared in an enormous explosion. The effectiveness of the 78 model surprised even her. The flower kept burning in silence for a few seconds, then the flames opened like a curtain. Evil laughter filled the air. The flower floated through the opened curtain, and became the main body of the witch; its petals were her skirt, the pistil distorting into a chaotic mass of spinning gears which formed her lower body. She hovered inverted above the battlefield; grinning down at them with something that vaguely resembled a face.

Madoka turned grey as she saw the twisted monster. It was far worse (and bigger) than the only witch she had seen: the one that Mami had hunted down when they first met. Homura gave Madoka a last, reassuring hug and the magical girls rushed out of their hideout to engross Walpurgis' attention until the bombers arrived.

This time Madoka could see the show that Homura had prepared to save her from a few timelines ago. The three girls were literally dancing around the park and emptied whole magazines into the witch that was just laughing at them, drawing the floating buildings close to her, crushing them and throwing concrete chunks at the girls. The magical girls' dance became a dance of death. And the stage was truly apocalyptic. Every time they risked stopping for a moment flocks of rockets lit the dark sky, or glowing streams of bullets stung in the witch's body, as she laughed hysterically at every hit she took. The noise of hundreds of explosions, buzzing railguns and falling buildings was deafening. Debris rained down from the black clouds.

The girls were doing a great job, the troops passed unmarked in this chaos as they pulled long tubes out of the covered trenches. The soldiers crawled forth fastened to pulley cables to stay on the ground in Walpurgis' distorted field of gravity; and hid back, waiting for the signal to open the valves.

Homura shone in the middle of this raging chaos. The thin girl's role was to take the most dangerous positions, because she was not only nimble and experienced, but her time control magic could save her from any pinch. At least, that was what the others thought - she herself knew her damaged soul gem was quickly losing it's power. But with or without magic, she didn't want to disappoint Madoka, who followed her from the shelter. And while the pink-haired girl was watching her, a pair of red eyes watched Madoka too. It was impossible to tell if the little mascot enjoyed the sight. His main objective wasn't to gloat over the girls' futile efforts. He was here for Madoka, and the girl was aware of that.

"I don't understand why you are still trying. I know that I'd pay with much more than my soul if I made the contract. With things that are not even mine, to begin with." She greeted the uninvited creature.

'And I don't understand why Akemi Homura keeps trying.' The alien answered. 'She should have already given up knowing that it was her repetition of time that made you this dangerous. I'm sure she knows it. But this timeline is especially interesting. This time she should really give up. If she starts over, she'll surely turn into a grief seed too early. She no longer has all the time in the world.'

"Kyouko-chan was right, then. You did really hurt Homura-chan, because she wouldn't die like good girls do. Like Sayaka-chan did..."

Overhead, a growing thunder announced the arrival of the bombers, a hundred turbofans building a wall of sound above the din of battle. The grand finale had begun. The aircraft opened their bomb bays and released their load. Huge metal cylinders descended from the sky hanging on enormous parachutes, covering Walpurgis in a yellow cloud of amber gas. The troops activated the land-based dispensers, making a thick fog around the tree. The witch didn't seem to realize what had happened, she kept on laughing at the miserable world and her opponents. Mami's ribbons were unnecessary.

'Don't misunderstand me.' Kyubey answered watching the show. 'I don't hate Akemi Homura. Our species is not capable of feeling anything to begin with. And we don't do meaningless things. Retiring her had a purpose.'

"All right, Kyubey." Madoka began. She lifted up the furry creature like a kitten. "I know why you are here. And I'll do what I have to do."

'Tell me, with what wish will you make your soul gem shine? Would you like to you save Akemi Homura from her inevitable fate?' Kyubey asked.

"No, Kyubey. I'll regret this choice forever, but there's nothing left for me I wouldn't regret later. So I'll wish for something else. And I'll make my wish come true myself." Madoka answered. Her voice rang exactly as cold as Homura's did when she talked to the little mascot. Kyubey suspected that this was the very moment when he should have felt fear. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Humans should have been his pliable fuel, even when rebelling. He tried to get away, but the pink-haired girl held him tight. She did not even feel the creature's sharp claws leaving deep, bleeding marks on her hands and arms.

"Be damned for taking away all hope from us, and so many other girls." Madoka cursed him while she handed him to the raven-haired girl. Homura had just appeared a moment ago, gracefully stepping out of her timeless world. She took Kyubey, and darted out of the tent, into the yellow mist. She tossed the surprised creature right into the middle of the gas cloud to lock him in his current body forever.

Madoka was looking forward to being with Homura again, she expected the raven-haired girl to simply appear next to her, she wanted to see her smile after all this suffering... but the time-traveler was just standing in the mist. She flashed a faint smile and pointed down. The amber had already began to solidify, capturing her feet in its eternal grip.

Madoka wanted to run to Homura, to save her or get entombed by her side... but Mami held her back. Homura held up her soul gem as an explanation: solid darkness filled the egg-shaped crystal. She twitched her arm like she was trying to wave, but her gesture was suspended forever. The very time she used to play with as she pleased, froze around her.

Crackling softly, the greatest monument of Mitakihara had been erected.


	10. Complete Darkness

**Magical Girl Crusade chapter 9: Complete Darkness**

Madoka woke up sick, with a terrible headache. The very floor beneath her feet felt unstable, just as unstable as her whole reality. She did not even know how to prove to herself that the last evening had ever happened. She hoped that everything had been a bad dream, but it had never worked lately. All her weird dreams had proven true since the night she had seen the mysterious girl, who may have become more than her friend. Homura had used her only wish to save her, she'd gone through the same hell over and over again. And just a day ago she'd let Madoka hold her very soul. They'd felt so close it might have been wrong... but it probably didn't matter anymore.

Madoka prayed for something that would deny the images vomited up in her minds eye, but Kyubey didn't appear to refute the things she saw whenever she closed her eyes: the horrible skeletal tree and its abominable witch-flower; her friends in their magical girl outfits, dancing to evade the bullet hell of raining debris; troops in chemical protective suits; and Homura, frozen in obscenely transparent quarantine amber, waving to her until the end of the world...

And Madoka had been sitting on the ground, sunk into herself. She hadn't cared what her two surviving friends had talked about with Dr Bishop. She'd let Peter and Olivia cover her in a blanket, put her in a car, and take her home. They'd probably told her parents what had happened.

"We'll do everything we can." Olivia had said as farewell. Madoka hadn't paid any attention.

From there on, things had just disappeared into a black hole. Her mother had never wanted her to get acquainted with alcohol this early, but looking at her she'd decided that Madoka had grown up that evening. They'd got falling-down drunk together.

The girl crawled into the bathroom like a zombie, had a wash, got dressed, and packed her school bag. She greeted her parents with a hoarse "I'm not hungry", then she staggered out of the house. Suddenly she felt dizzy from the impact of sunlight and fresh air. As she looked up, she caught the glimpse of the tip of the hill of amber, the proof of everything she feared. She darted back to the bathroom and slammed the door. Her mother watched her hurry empathically.

Madoka gave leaving home another try. This time she got through the shock of the sight, yet she couldn't get too far. Her regular route had been obstructed by barriers marked with logos of the Fringe Division. A bunch of her schoolmates were already there, she spotted Hitomi tiptoeing next to the barricade, holding her camera phone as high as she could trying to get a glimpse from the other side. It was impossible to miss the hill of amber (it was at least a hundred meters tall after all), but she was more interested in the people working on the other side.

"Hi, Madoka!" The green-haired girl greeted her. "Imagine that someone got ambered last night! Of course they deny everything, but they can't fool me! Why would they be so busy otherwise?"

"I know." Madoka answered with watery eyes.

"Idiots, it's impossible to free anyone from there." She sobbed. "But even if wasn't, it would be futile!"

Hitomi looked dumbfounded but then she slapped her forehead.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I almost forgot! That blonde third-grader asked me to give it to you - you know, the girl with corkscrews in her hair." She gave a letter to Madoka.

The pink-haired girl hesitantly unfolded the sheet of paper and started to read.

* * *

><p>Dear Madoka,<p>

I'm terribly sorry for leaving without saying goodbye - by the time you read this I'll have left Mitakihara, or even Japan. There must still be many girls of our kind scattered around the world who need to be saved. If I'd known what I know now I'd have already begun this "magical girl hunt". Now that we don't have new recruits it became even more urgent, I don't want to see them turn on each other over the few remaining witches. Kyouko and the Bishops agreed that this task fits me well, because I can work for long periods without cleansing my soul gem. I get any help I need from Massive Dynamic, I captain a quarantine squad (though I hope I won't need them), and the government finances my travels.

I'd have gladly taken you with me, but I was told that it would be much better for you to stay with your parents now - so Olivia took you home. I feel sorrow for Akemi, it's really not fair that you lost her like this. Her last thought must have been to save you from seeing her as a witch. Kyouko is in danger too, she'd agreed to be kept in induced coma to protect her from using up her remaining magic. Dr Bishop got the permission to take her to Boston - he'll run experiments on her to figure out how to free a magical girl from her soul gem. He's quite positive that if we don't have to use our magic to remote control our bodies we can live normally without the imminent risk of turning into witches. Practically, he's working on undoing our contracts. It would be great if he succeeded!

I get back to see you as soon as possible.

Hugs and kisses,

Mami

* * *

><p>So after Sayaka and Homura she lost Kyouko too. Madoka wasn't even sure that she would see Mami ever again. Kyubey had tainted everything, finished off everyone. She could only hope that Homura was right and that foul little bastard couldn't ensnare more girls anymore.<p>

Madoka had an awful day, just like she expected. Her classmates spotted that everyone who disappeared was her friend. To make things even worse some of the students had seen them with Olivia and a squad of the Fringe task force. It was just natural that they made up wild conspiracy theories about their role in the disaster that destroyed a whole district. Her classmates pestered Madoka with questions the whole day but she kept silent. And she didn't tell her teachers where the transfer student was now either. Magical girls had always lived unnoticed and disappeared without trace, and she didn't feel the strength to change it. Officially there were no civilian casualties anyway. And no one would shed a tear for Homura. Except for her. She caught herself crying again.

As days, then weeks passed her classmates lost their interest and ceased to torture her with their questions. She didn't talk to anyone anymore either, except for Hitomi and Kyousuke who were empathic enough not to hurt her even more. The only thing Madoka could be glad about was Kyubey's disappearance. She hadn't seen the alien since Walpurgisnacht and every day nourished her hope that he really couldn't get a new body if he was frozen in amber.

Finally the school year came to an end. On the last afternoon Madoka said goodbye to Hitomi when she got home. As she entered the house her father welcomed her with a big, formal envelope. It was a special delivery from the United States, addressed to Kaname Madoka, Mitakihara, Japan. Its return address was the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

She excitedly tore up the envelope. She found a a Tokyo to Boston flight ticket inside, and a short letter, written in hiragana.

* * *

><p>Dear young lady,<p>

I have fantastic news for you! There's someone here who has just come around, and would like to meet you very much! Don't mind the return address, the envelope is from Astrid's office (I'm dictating this letter to her). Peter's going to pick you up at the airport.

Best wishes,

Walter

* * *

><p>That was all, and a phone number in case she got lost somehow.<p> 


	11. Tomorrow will be Special

**Magical Girl Crusade chapter 10: Tomorrow will be Special; Yesterday was not**

Madoka had plenty of time aboard the plane to think over the possibilities. 'Magic and miracles do exist!' She remembered an overheard conversation between Sayaka and Kyousuke. After the things she'd seen she found real difficulties in telling magic and science apart. Magic had failed her - what could she expect from science now?

After crossing the Pacific Ocean and the North American continent, enduring several boring movies, drawing a little and sleeping restlessly for a few hours on the plane she was finally standing in the concourse of the Boston airport. She had already had her passport and luggage checked, and now she tried to find Peter. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder; it gave her a start. She turned around to face the man behind her. It was Peter, he had found her first. He greeted her and led her to a black SUV, smiling mysteriously, without saying a word.

For the last two months Madoka had thought of herself as an empty shell of her former self. Now she discovered that she still had feelings. Waves of hope and despair ran through her, emotions she had almost forgotten. She asked about the letter but did not get any answer, just another smile. She asked more questions and watched Peter's reactions: she still couldn't figure out what had happened, while curiosity almost killed her. She was thankful that the trip was quite short. As the man parked the car, she opened the door and darted right to the lab's entrance. She had no an idea how, she just knew the way. She opened the door and entered the lab. It clearly wasn't science, so it had to be magic.

The sight was astonishing. In the middle of the lab, among test tubes and instruments, about five feet away from something that looked disturbingly like a covered corpse, she saw Astrid and Kyouko, both in aprons, adorning a cake. While she watched them, stunned, she heard the moo of a cow.

"Why, our little Gretchen has arrived! Just a minute! Astrid, our celebrated guest is here!" Walter called and climbed out of the cow's stall with a bucket in his hand.

Madoka looked so perplexed that Peter repeated everything in Japanese. It didn't help her at all.

"What Gretchen? And why am I celebrated? Isn't it Kyouko who has come around?" She asked, with suspicion and some fragile hope. Kyouko looked too lively for someone who had just been revived from a two-month coma.

"Because you're the one to get a present." The redhead winked. Madoka laughed and hugged her.

"The present is not her." Peter laughed too.

"It's a shame that Mami can't be here." Kyouko said. "It would be funny to see her face. But she has far more work to do than we'd have ever thought! Her missions are not a hundred percent successful, but it's still much better than letting the others play battle royale out there, without a winner."

The pink-haired girl's face clouded over.

"If there's any way I can help them, I want to work with you. I want to be useful, I want to make a difference!" She offered.

"We'll talk about that after the surprise." Peter answered. "Are you ready?"

They all had fun seeing how confused Madoka was. It wasn't fair at all after all the things she'd gone through. But their happiness had infected her with irrational hope.

Kyouko directed her to another door, she even turned the knob. Madoka stepped into the next room. She looked around: the walls were flanked by plastic bags. Pieces of amber were placed on every bag, carefully labeled with inexplicable letters and numbers - the room looked like an exhibition of strange minerals. She saw a tea cart too, full of cutting tools, syringes and empty ampoules.

She picked up a larger piece of amber. It was light and felt warm, like some plastic. She remembered when she first held this deadly material. Back then they all were alive and together. The amber chunk she was holding had a strange shape: it reminded her to a piece of an imprint of a face.

"I couldn't start to work on this piece until we could convince Sakura-san's body and soul to get re-acquainted." Dr Bishop said. "But she helped a lot after she got well. Didn't she, Astrid?"

"Yes, Walter. Especially at mixing strawberry shakes." The creole woman answered from behind their backs.

"But what's even more, she provided invaluable information about their soul gems." Dr Bishop added.

"I could do this thanks to Walter's improved soul magnets." Kyouko grinned. "He said that he had extracted the key molecule from Kyubey's corpse, then he synthesized it. I love how the furry little bastard helped us in the end! It was a pain for Walter to stabilize me in my body, though."

"Don't listen her," Peter winked. "it's her who suffered through the process. She's incredible at enduring pain."

"And 'my' soul magnets were originally William Bell's research." Walter added.

But they still hadn't explained the strange piece of amber in the pink-haired girl's shaking hands. Madoka looked around and hesitantly took a step towards the next door. She saw encouraging smiles on everyone's faces.

Walter saw her wavering so he continued:

"I examined the samples I kept from the first incident three years ago. It perfectly preserved any organic material in its inclusions. However, no living beings can be freed from inside the amber yet."

"All right, stop playing with her!" Olivia scolded them from the entrance.

"We were waiting just for you!" Walter answered.

"My dear," He turned to Madoka "It's your turn to open this last door."

The girl turned the door knob, shaking all over. She was drunk with hope - and fear of a letdown. The next moment would either save her or break her...

"However, your red-haired friend made me realize that in this case, technically, we weren't dealing with a living being. Luckily our little Faust's health is as strong as iron, so she could handle a little mistreatment. All in all, I could recover the soul that she carelessly played into the hands of the devil."

"She thought herself smart but I'm sure she hadn't planned it." Kyouko added. "Still, It wasn't a bad idea to freeze herself at the last minute."

Madoka opened the door. The world changed in an instant: she stepped into a high-tech hospital room. The sheer volume of the piled up instruments dwarfed the single, white bed. A familiar, slim figure was lying in there, surrounded by infusion stands. Long, raven hair flowed across the pillows as the resting girl sat up with great difficulty. She had dark shadows under her eyes, scratches and bruises all over her skin, needles stuck in her arms, tubes in her nose.

Even in her sorry state her sight was the happiness itself for Madoka. She fell on Homura's neck, hugged her and wouldn't let her go...


End file.
